AN 

ORATION ON DEATH, 

AND THE 

HAPPINESS OF THE SEPARATE STATE, 

OR THE 

PLEASURES OF PARADISE, 

WITH 
THEIR PROBABLE CHANGES AND IMPROVEMENTS'. 

The last of which is much quoted from the late Dr» 

Watts, interspersed, however, with divers 

Poetical Sketches of the Author's, of 

various measures and metres. 

ALSO, 

An Oration of the Author's, written early in the 
-spring of 1816, on the then present outpourings of 
the Spirit of God, in New England, and through the 
world — our missions to Asia — touches on the Mil- 
lennium, and the dark periods, to the consummation 
of all things, 

ALSO 

Four Hymns or Poems of the Author's, on solemn 
and divine subjects^ to wit : — One, on the great mor- 
tality of the women and children in Williamsburgh f 
which took place in the year 1788. — One, a soliloquy, 
or rather conference between the divine attributes of 
mercy and justice, relative to the state of fallen man. 
One, on the joys of heaven, or the happiness of that 
glorious state. These two last were composed or 
written in or about the time of the great reformation 
in the year 1790. — One, written early in the spring 
of 1816, on the then present reformation, having a 
retrospective view of the reformation in these parts 
in the year 1790; it then will pursue much the same 
track of the last mentioned oration. 

BY MANOAH BODMAN. 

** 

WILLIAMS B URGH: 

PRINTED BY EPHRAIM WHITMAN. 
1817. 



DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS, to wit3T?0 

District Clerk's Office >,]&5 
Be it remembered, That on the twenty-fifth ddy OL 
of October, A. D. 1817, and in the forty-second year 
of the Independenceof the United States of America, 
Manoah BoDMAN,of the said district, has deposited 
in this office the title of a book, the right whereof he 
claims as author, in the words following, to wit: — 

"An Oration on De^th, and the happiness of the 
separate state, or the pleasures of paradise, with their 
probable changes and improvements : the last cf 
which is much quoted from the late Dr. Watts, in- 
terspersed, however, with divers poetical sketches 
of the author's, of various measures and metres. Also 
an Oration of the author's, written early in the spring 
cf 1816, on the then present outpourings of the spirit 
of God, in New England, and through the world~ 
our missions to Asia — touches on the Millennium* 
and the dark periods, to the consummation of all 
things. Also, Four Hymns or Poems of the author's, 
on solemn and divine subjects, to wit:— .One, on the 
great mortality o>f the women and children in Wil- 
jiamsburgh, which took place in the year 1788. One, 
a soliloquy, or rather conference between the divine 
attributes of mercy and justice, relative to the state 
of fallen man. One, on the joys of heaven, or the hap- 
piness of that glorious state. These two last were 
composed or written in or about the time of the great 
reformation in the year 1790. One, written early in. 
the spring of 1816, on the then present reformation, 
having a retrospective view of the reformation in 
these°parts In the year 1790^ it then will pursue 
much the same track of the last mentioned oratiom 
—By Manoah Bodman." 

In conformity to the act of congress of the United 
States, entitled 'An act for the encouragement of 
learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts and 
books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, 
during the times therein mentioned;' and also to an 
act entitled, 'An act supplementary to an act, entitled, 
m act for the encouragement of learning, by securing 
the copies of maps, charts and books, to the authors 
and proprietors of such copies during the times there- 
in mentioned ; and extending the benefits thereof to 
the arts cf designing, engraving :icl etching histor- 
fcai a:;d other prints/ JOH ' W. DAVIS, 

r*' PV j, nfthr -rtvtri* yf ftfas-sachnsctte* 

? . l "'""" J "' ' 



PREFACE TO THE READER. 



AS the Author has a very long intro- 
duction to his work, so any further remarks 
might seem to be unnecessary ; but still he 
would say, that when he first wrote his work, 
lie had a mind to have thrown the scriptures, 
with which it is in part composed, into the 
bottom of the page ; — but as this method 
did not seem so correspondent to his subject, 
and the method of his writing — that is to say, 
somewhat in an oratorical style — that he con* 
eluded to designate the holy scriptures in 
some different way, especially as that part of 
his book which is much quoted from the late 
Dr. Watts a he has ventured to turn into 
somewhat of a different form, not only by 
interspersing it with his own particular po- 
etical remarks, but by breaking the chapters 
and sections of the same, and changing its 
position somewhat more agreeable to his own 
particular method of oratory ; but he has in 
all cases endeavoured to retain the sense of the 
Doctor, and to resume his own words as 
quick as possible — meaning in the first ora- 
tion. It was his intention, in the next place, 
to have thrown the holy scriptures into itaU 
kk^ and no other part of the work j but as he 



iv. 

employed a clerk to take down his minutes 
as he dictated them, so he finds that some lit- 
tle inaccuracies have crept into the manu- 
script, and consequently have slipt through 
the press in this way. And it may be prop- 
er here to observe, that where the sense was 
scriptural, but not strictly literal, it was not 
designed to be in italick. Bat without any 
further apology, we, who live in a gospel 
land, ought to be so perfectly acquainted with 
the holy word, that we shall know a scrip, 
ture expression in a moment, wherever we 
may find it, in any book whatever : And 
learn to tremble before it, inasmuch as God 
has said, To this man will I look. And when- 
ever we see a word from the holy bible, let 
us consider it as the immediate voice of Je- 
hovah to our guilty race ; and as loud as 
though spoken in accents of thunder. Any 
little inaccuracies in the work, the reader 
with his own mind will amend j and supply 
small defects in grammar or docution. He 
thus sends, in number the first volume of 
orations abroad, ever yet published in Ame- 
rica, by any American author, merely as such* 
He asks the candour and charity of alL 

WlLLIAMSBURGH, 

Dec. 1. 1817, 



w 



INTRODUCTION. 



f HEN any great events are abroad in 
the world, it generally arrests the notice of man- 
kind ; and calls forth the attention of all. It is so, 
•in 'the sudden eruption of burning mountains. It is 
so, in the convulsions and tremblings of the earth. 
It is so, when frightful tornadoes appear in our hori- 
zon. It is so, when rivers break clown their dykes, 
and seas seem to overflow their boundaries. It is 
so, when inundations appear to be sweeping all be- 
fore them. It is so, when the face of the heavens 
are gathering blackness, and the dark clouds there-' 
of are distending, and appear to be flying in columns, 
to the dreadful attack, and wonderfully traverse 
their strength ; while the dreadful loud thunders 
shake the atmosphere— and the vivid pale lightning 
flashes conviction— and terror, and affright, seizes 
every soul. It is so, when fearful sights and great 
signs appear in the heavens. It is so, $vhen some 
dreadful potent nadon, before whom the whole earth 
trembles, is lighting up the torch of war : with inr 
tention of taking general, or particular vengeance, 
—Likewise, It is so, when meagre, haggard.famine ? 
with all her concomitants, and a host of epidemics, 
appear to be staring a nation in the face; and let 
me add ; it is so, when some mighty sovereign, or 
potentate, who is over a vast empire, is about to vi- 
sit his subjects for the furtherance of their happi- 
ness. Now then, we have a similitude, and, as much 
like a parallel as can be gained, perhaps, by any ma- 
terial things. I dare say, O reader, that you begin 
Jxy this time to perceive that I am about to mention 



Immanuel, God with us, and speak of the King of 
kings, and Lord of lords. — Yes, we shall now speak 
for a moment of the coming of our Lord Jesus, in 
his mediatorial, wonderful, and, perhaps, in his mil- 
lennium glory. 

Was there ever a day, since the Apostolic age, 
that so loudly called forth the zeal and activity of 
the whole christian world, as the present in which 
we live ? Were the stately steppings of Jehovah 
ever more visibly seen, than at the present moment? 
Do we not hear the high praises of cur God ascend" 
ing from almost every quarter of the habitable earth ? 
Greek, Jew, Barbarian, Scythian, bond and free, the 
Asiatic tribes, the barbarous states of Africa, end 
v the poor degraded Hottentot, begin to lisp forth the 
praises of Jesus : and the whole earth seems to be 
turning into a terrestrial Paradise. Combinations, 
meliorations and reforms, are becoming systematic, 
and all verging to one point, that is to say, the good 
of mankind and the welfare of their souls. Happy 
times — -Resplendent day— Run, ye heralds of the 
cross, from pole to pole, breaking to the nations the 
bread of life as you go. Come, come let us all 
arouse, King Jesus will find supplies, we are only 
to share the disposition to do good. He will fill our 
coffers, and supply all our wants. If we seem to 
exhaust our treasures, he can very readily fill them. 
And if we should say to ourselves, we can but just 
live now, and consequently cannot incur any further 
expense ; he can as easily fill our barrels with meal, 
and our cruises with oil, as he did that of the widow 
of Serepta. I will give you a recent instance ; — 
Although subscriptions and contributions have been 
great, for several years past, for the support and 
propagation of the gospel, in addition to all our oth- 
er expenses ; yet still our treasures are not ex- 
hausted. It seems as though the Almighty God 
was, as it were, speaking to us in loud accents ; 
Hear ye worms of the dust, if ye will but be fellow- 
workers together with me, in my glorious cause, 
you shan't want for any good thing. And if you asl$ 



for any evidence of this, then turn your eyes over 
the verdant earth.— See how I have rewarded the 
labors of the husbandman, and replenished the earth 
with every material good ! causing even the lame 
man to leap, and the tongue of the dumb to sing ; 
and now learn to trust a faithful God. — Conscience 
too, cur own consciences call upon us to bestir our- 
selves, and do something in the vineyard of our 
God. — But the grand question is, what ? Here then 
we want great wisdom, and I will add divine wis- 
dom, to solve thrs inter rogation. For by misjudg- 
ing, misdoing, or overdoing, we may, perhaps, do 
more hurt, than not to do any thing. It therefore 
concerns us all, to consult our abilities, our apti- 
tudes, and our opportunities for doing .good. Arid 
let it be considered once for all, that we are no more 
than stewards in God's household, and occupants of 
his talents, and liable at any moment to be called to 
give an account of our stewardship; let us, therefore, 
now proceed to consider the powers and capacities 
of mankind to do good at this day. The rich man, 
will first arrest our attention, and surely, as our Di- 
vine Benefactor has poured such a wonderful profu- 
sion of blessings on his head,. he can have no dispo- 
sition to stay behind, like M roz y who came not to 
the helji of the Lord) to the heifi of the Lord^ against 
the mighty. — Yes, the rich man, like an inland sea, 
can supply many streams great and small which will 
verge in the happiness, the eternal happiness of 
-mankind. Heavy then, his responsibility for souls ! 
— The wise man too, can do wonders ; even if he is 
poor ; for we read of a poor wise man, who by his 
wisdom delivered the city ; yet no man remembered 
that same poor man. What then ? — If God remem- 
bers and rewards him, that's enough. But the wise 
man has great advantages for doing good. He. can 
propose plans, adopt measures, and concert means, 
for the great advancement of the good of mankind. 

He sees far into the nature and reason of things, 
and of the operation of causes and effects, and the 
connection between the means and the end^ and his 



4 

discerning eye discovers, and seperates the gold 
from the dross, the precious from the vile ; and he 
is able to gather the good into vessels, and cast the 
dad away. Say, O reader, is not a man of this saga- 
city of prime importance in a world of christian 
light, which is, interspersed, however, and becloud- 
ed with so much error and darkness. This man* 
therefore, will attend to the providential voice of 
God ; and will faithfully stand in his lot. The man 
of science, and deep literature, will next suffer a 
word of exhortation. 

He can diffuse blessings at every step ; his every 
move is lucid ; he can read not only the moderns, 
but the ancients too ; gathering all the fine ideas 
from all the greatest worthies and sages of the world, 
treasuring them up in his own breast, as in a little 
reservoir, from which with a wonderful facility he 
will communicate to the rising and risen generation ; 
and they in their turns will rise up and call him bles- 
sed, and a father in science. He too, can read the 
science of the stars upon occasion, and show that 
the invisible things of Him, from the creation of the 
world are clearly seen, being understood by the things 
that are made, even his eternal fiotver and Godheads 
so that they are without excuse. He too, can dis- 
seminate the principles of erudition, and scatter 
knowledge all around him, by training up the youth 
of his own country, or any other country, to become 
wonderful propagators of the gospel of Jesus. Hea- 
vy and important his charge ! let him see that he 
fulfils it. 

Ministers of the gospel will always be consider- 
ed as burning and shining lights in the midst of their 
several golden candlesticks in which they are placed ; 
for Christ is said to hold these stars in his own right 
hand ; and we all know the use o^ stars, is to shine, 
elucidate and make comiortabffe. We suppose, 
however, that stars have their usefulness, and their 
principal ones too, in other systems ; just so it may 
be with the minister of Jesus. O the amazing good, 
they may be instrumental of doing in our world I 



They then will take their Master's mandate in their 
hands, pursue their work, and often reflect on the 
greatness of it. . The man of fine elQcution, and of 
great natural eloquence, for I doubt not there are 
such that lie in the bowels of our country, w r ill now 
hear a word. 

Arouse then, O man, whom nature or science has 
taught; send home your powerful eloquence against 
the batteries of vice ; tear off the habiliments of the 
warrior against virtue ; and let the creation know> 
that the powers you have received from your Maker P 
shall all be exhausted in his service. O my country- 
men, how many such geniuses are now lying dor- 
mant among you, for the want of a little patronage, 
—What might not such men do, if rightly disposed 
and properly assisted ? What might not a Demosthe- 
nes, or a Tully have done, had they but been irradi- 
ated by one ray or beam of light from the Sun of 
Righteousness, and besides, perhaps, there are Ame- 
rican souls in embryo, that are destined to snatch the 
palm from the hand, and tear the wreath from the 
head of these old veterans of eastern oratory. 

Private magistrates, and courts of justice, may do 
much to reflect the honor and interest, of the religion 
of Jesus, by a holy, humble, and close walk with 
God, and looking down vice of every description. 
But it is now r high time to drop a word in an address 
to the whole populace. As this is a call for charity, 
and for the most benevolent purposes, the Author 
hopes no one will be offended. We are all interest- 
ed in these great events, and are loudly called upon 
to do something for the eternal ^ood of our fellow 
creatures; and there are none of us so poor, but what 
if we are really engaged, we may in some way or 
other imitate the poor widow in the Gospel, by cast- 
ing into the treasury of the Lord, our two mites. It 
is not my province, however, nor do I desire it, to 
turn dictator and prescribe particular methods for 
the collection of these charities for the souls of men, 
But O what a privilege, that we should have oppor- 
tunity of contributing our aid for the relief of those- 



poor creatures who sit in darkness and in the region 
of the shadow of death. What a mercy it is, that the 
avenues of this conveyance are still kept open, and 
that, if we cast our spiritual dread ufwn the waters f 
we are sure to Jind it after many days. 

Let us reverse the scene for a moment, and sup- 
pose ourselves Asiatics, Barbarians or Hottentots, 
and we should just begin to hear of the way of life 
and salvation, by a crucified Saviour, and that the 
heralds of the cross were come to visit us : O with 
what joyful eclat should we spring up from our dark 
ceils, and fly into their arms for relief? — O impor- 
tant question ! Who made thee to differ ? 

What can be done for the heathen of all countries 
and nations ? Was there ever a more sympathising 
question ? enough to draw tears from the eyes of a 
Caligula ! O that we could do something — and hit 
on the best possible method. 

Let us then sit down and familiarly talk over the 
subject, and assign to each one his share in the grand 
and infinite theme. 

Perhaps, the methods now in use, are the best 
possible ; let us then one and all, give energy to 
them, selecting the natives for education, and send- 
ing them religious tracts, together with the Holy 
Bible, may have a wonderfully beneficial effect. Per-, 
haps too, there are other wise, un thought of mea- 
sures, which might have a great influence to bring 
about their good. Possibly the diaries of wonderful 
christians, and the rehearsal of great christian ex- 
perience, may have great influence for their welfare. 
Possibly, too, it may be of service to show them the 
hard and difficult work which christians must ex- 
pect, after they have set their faces in earnest to- 
wards Zion, before they ever reach the Heavenly 
Canaan ; and this by the struggling of sin within. 
them ; and the frowning of the world and the roar- 
ing of Satan without them. And were it not that the 
Almighty arm of Jesus supports and supplies them 
and us, they, nor we, should ever reach the heaven- 
ly shore. 



7 

And this opens a door for me to expatiate, as was 
considerbly my design in this introduction, upon the 
power of infernal agency over our world, as it relates 
to the bodies and minds of men. 

The author conceives that this great adversary of 
souls has inconceivably more power and influence 
over our world than is generally admitted. How 
dreadful his snares i How dangerous his transform- 
ing influence, when he transforms into an angel of 
light ! How sharp his assaults — How frightful his 
power ! How does he as it were hoodwink mankind, 
and blindfold them to everlasting destruction ! — I 
know very well there are worms of the dust, who 
will almost dispute his being — call him a bugbear, a 
creature of the imagination, or any thing else of a 
trifling nature. Poor mistaken souls ! Had you been 
for one night under the power of Satan, in the tombs^ 
crying and cutting yourself with stones, and so ex~ 
ceeding fierce, that no man might pass that way, and 
[ducking your chains and fetters asunder, as was the 
case of the man of the country of the Gadarenes ; it 
would have cured you forever of your unbelief in 
devils ; and healed you of trifling in these points. 

Come, let us dwell on this subject a little. Poor 
.Demoniac ! crying and cutting himself with stones; 
— then it must be involuntary — our common lunatics 
don't do so ; we don't see them voluntarily torturing 
themselves from time to time, and crying under the 
smart of it ;— -by a sudden impulse from Satan, how- 
ever, they may instantly strike a knife to their heart, 
or to their throat, or hang' themselves, or kill some 
other person. But this poor demoniac, it seems was 
constantly crying and cutting himself with stones, 
torturing his flesh, and crying out under the anguish 
of it; — then it must be involuntary, and he must be 
impelled to do it by the immediate power of Satan, 
hy his making a strong and powerful impulse upon 
his body or mind, or both ; and forcing the members 
thereof to become utterly subservient to his wilL 
And by the same infernal agency, imparted so much 
strength to the members of his body, as caused him 



8 

to pluck his chains and fetters asunder. And in this 
way may we account for his answer to our Saviour, 
in forcibly striking the organs of his body, and com- 
pelling them to articulate, probably without the least 
agency of the man, My name is legion, for we are 
many. 

Poor ! Forlorn I Demoniac ! But not more so than 
any, or all of us should be if equally given up to Sa- 
tan. And perhaps, this same man, compared with 
his fello\y creatures of the same place, was an inno- 
cent and worthy member of society, and a real good 
man, as for any thing that the eye of humanity could 
discern. O the sovereignty of God ! His ways are 
certainly past finding out. Mary Magdalene too, 
was another instance to shew that the judgments of 
God, are a great deep.; for we are informed from 
sacred writ, that out of her went seven devils. Who, 
or what these seven devils were, it is not my prov- 
ince to define. Our commentators, however, con- 
strue the word seven, when applicable to the holy 
scriptures, to signify a number of perfection. Upon 
this hypothesis, then, we say that Mary Magdalene 
was perfectly possessed with the devil : and if she 
was perfectly possessed with the devil, then she was 
possessed by him in body and soul : and if she was 
possessed by him in body and soul, then she was 
completely under his agency: if she was complete- 
ly under his agency, then she was perfectly at his 
will ; if she was perfectly at his will, then she was 
his entire machine : if she was his entire machine, 
then she must think, and speak, and act, just as he 
would have her; the restraints of God only except- 
ed. And yet, daring all this time, or soon after, she 
was a special favourite of heaven. For it appears 
that she was one of the foremost and most eminent 
of the saints; and that she, and the other Mary, were 
first at the sepulchre, on the first day of the week ; 
and had the honour and pleasure of the vision of an- 
gels, while the same was denied to Peter and John. 

Again, we find her among a list of worthies, who 
ministered unto Chriet of their substance. Hear the 



9 

account. And it came to pass afterward, that lie 
went throughout every city and village preaching, 
and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God ; 
and the twelve were with him. And certain women, 
who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, 
Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven 
deviis. And Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's 
Steward, and Susanna, and many others, who minis* 
tered unto him of their substance. See Luke eighth, 
at the beginning. 

Here then again it appears, that Mary Magdalene 
was first ranked among these worthy and pious wo- 
men, and therefore could not be a saint of small es- 
timation. And it is obvious, that there were others 
of these likewise, that had been possessed of devils 
as well as of infirmities. O stupendous ! O the 
matchless power and wisdom of divine grace ! Who 
but the Lion of the tribe of Judah, can open and read 
the book of God's secret determinations; and loose 
the seven seals thereof? I know very well, there 
are vulgarisms abroad, among worms of the dust, and 
for a long time have been, conceiving of Mary Mag- 
dalene as being a vile and infamous character ; bitt 
not a particle of evidence of this from the word of 
God, and, as we believe, from any other quarter. Let 
us attend now for a short time to the evangelists, and 
see what we can descry of the power of Satan, for 
this is our present theme, and on which we intend 
for a time to expatiate. Perhaps it may not be 
thought so popular a subject as some, but yet, all 
must own it infinitely important. The first instance 
that occurs from the sacred writings as abovemen- 
lioned, was Jesus' being led up of the spirit into the 
wilderness, to be tempted of the devil. What this 
leading up of the spirit was, I pretend not to tell, 
Commentators, however, suppose it to mean the Ho* 
ly Spirit. And as he was led up for the sole purpose 
of being tempted, or tried by the devil, I think there 
can be no doubt but the conflict must have been sharp 
and severe, during the forty days and forty nights of his 
fasting. It appears from the scriptures that he was. 



10 

afterwards an hungered. And the tempter then came 
to him, and requested him to command the stones to 
be made bread. It is probable that he now appeared 
in the garb of an angel of light ; to that degree that 
he would utterly have deceived you or me, in like cir- 
cumstances : But Christ being omnipotent, as well 
as omniscient, instantly repelled him. But he soon 
makes another attack upon him, and in some way or 
other, setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple in the 
holy city, requesting him to cast himself down, as- 
suring him that God would protect him. But he 
sharply rebuked him, giving him and us to understand 
that we are not presumptuously to put ourselves in 
a way of danger, and then depend upon miraculous 
divine protection. But he soon makes another at- 
tack, for we must remark that Satan is indefatigable 
in his assaults, even when levelled against the Son of 
God. But how quickly should we worms fall under 
them, were we not divinely supported. He now ap- 
pears somewhat to shift his movement, and agreea- 
bly to the great Dr Scott, strikes the imagination of 
our Saviour, for he is a great worker in the region 
of the imagination, and probably in this way raised an 
appearance of all the kingdoms of the world and the 
glory of them ; and offered him these as a reward 
for one single act of homage : but he indignantly 
spurned him from his presence. A solemn lecture 
to us, not to believe in external appearances or voices, 
since they may be all of Satan's framing. 

The next instance that we shall mention is the 
case of a hmatic who was brought by his father to 
Christ ; who was by these foul spirits oft cast into 
the Jirey and oft into the water. Now hear the in- 
formation of his father, as made known to Christ. 
And wheresoever he taketh hi?n, he teareth him ; and 
hefoamethj and gnasheth with his teethy and pi?ieth 
away : And when this poor lunatic was brought un- 
to Christ, even into the presence of the great God- 
Man ; this foul spirit there had the effrontery to tear 
him, and he fell on the ground (no doubt by infer- 
nal agency) and he wallowed foaming. His father 



11 

informed our Saviour that this came upon him of a 
child. But Jesus in his own due time rebuked the 
foul spirit, saying unto him, thou dumb and deaf 
spirit, I charge thee to come out of him and enter no 
more into him, and the spirit cried and rent him 
sore, and came out of him and he ivas as one deady 
insomuch that many said he is dead. 

Now is there any probability but what Satan aim- 
ed by this last effort to kill the man, and that even 
in the immediate presence of Him who sways the 
sceptre of the universe. O the horrid effrontery, 
as well as the malice of Satan ! O what a defence- 
less race of beings we are, to stand against such an 
enemy as this ! 

Being still intent on mischief, and finding he must 
quit his old habitation, he requests and obtains per- 
mission of our Saviour to enter the herd of swine. 
And in pursuance of his diabolical plan, he no soon- 
er comes out of the man, whom he left almost a vic- 
tim of death, he instantly enters the herd of swine 
and the whole herd ran violently down a steep place 
into the sea, and perished in the waters. No wonder 
then that this man, fell into the fire, and into the 
water, and gnashed his teeth,— fell on the ground, 
and wallowed, foaming — and cried out, 'and finally 
appeared to be dead, when he had so much infernal 
agency about him, as to cause above two thousand 
swine in an involuntary and violent manner, immedi- 
ately to choke themselves to death. O the surpris- 
ing power of this great enemy, whether he attacks 
matter or spirit. 

We will next instance a woman whom our Sa- 
viour calls a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan had 
bound by a spirit of infirmity eighteen years. — Well, 
if she was bound by Satan for eighteen years, why 
not for the course of her whole life, if so permitted ? 
and if he could bind this woman by infirmity, why 
not any other person, with the same or like infirmi- 
ty ? unless you will shew that the rest of mankind 
are exempt, and that she only v/as liable to these 
bindings pf Satan, But you cannot show that the 



12 

rest of mankind are exempt, and tliat she only was 
liable; of consequence all mankind are as liable as 
she was, to these bindings of Satan. Of course, he 
Is the great father and author of all the natural evils 
in the world. And this is one great point to make 
him out the god of this world, and the prince of the 
power of the air, agreeably to the holy scriptures. 

Let us now consider Satan, in a moral and invisi- 
ble point of view. Our Saviour himself seems to 
ascribe to him every thing but omniscience and om- 
nipresence. Our Lord says, When any one heareth 
the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, 
then cometh the wicked one, and eatcheth away that 
which was sown in his heart. Now let vis think for 
a moment of his vast power and diligence, which is 
invisible. For the word of the kingdom will be dis- 
pensing by the ambassadors of Jesus in thousands of 
places, at one and the same time : and such will be 
the sagacity of the old serjient, that not an opportuni- 
ty shall be lost, but that he will assiduously attend 
to the state and heart, of every hearer, and has pow- 
er perfectly to know every one, who understandeth 
not the word of the kingdom, and moreover, to take 
it away out of their hearts. O what a dreadful en- 
emy the poor feeble children of men have to grapple 
with ! Now we find that Satan is assiduous in his 
hellish enterprises, not only when men are awake 
but when they are asleep also. We find by the pa- 
rable spoken by our Lord, of the man who sowed 
good seed in his field. But while men slept his 
enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and 
went his way. Our Saviour in his explanation of 
this parable to his disciples, expressly tells them 
that the enemy that sowed them is the devil. O 
how watchful and prayerful ought we to be ; by 
night and by day, while our great adversary goes 
about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may de- 
vour. How he entered into Judas — and filled the 
hearts of Ananias and Saphira, — Simon Magus — - 
and by parity of reason, he may that of any other 
person, wherever he is permitted, 



13 

One scripture example more of his power, and 1 
have done I shall now refer you to the distress 
that he caused Job. Here, again, is mystery, for God 
himself told him, that Job was the most upright 
man in all the earth, and yet he fell grievously un- 
der the power of Satan. It was truly wonderful, but 
God gave Satan licence to destroy all that he had, 
with the exception of his own person only. So &a- 
tan went forth from the presence rj the Lordr-^And 
there was a day when Job's so7isu?id his daughters were 
eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's 
house : and there came a messenger unto Job , and 
said*, The oxen were ploughing and the asses feeding 
beside them ; and the Sabeans fell upon them and 
took them away; yeaj they have slain the servants 
with the edge of the sword ; and I only am escaped 
alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there 
came also another, and said, The fire of God is faileii 
from heaven, and hath burnt up the sheep, and the 
servants, and consumed them; and I only am escap- 
ed alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there 
came also another and said, The Chaldeans made out 
three bands, and fell upon the camels and have carri- 
ed them away, yea, and slain the servants with the 
edge of the sword ; and I only am escaped clone to 
tell thee. While he was yet speaking there came al- 
so another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were 
eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's 
house. And, behold, there came a great wind from 
the wilder ticss, and smote the four corners of the 
house, and it fell upon the young men and they are 
dead ; and I only am esca/ied alone to tell thee. 

What a deadly group of messengers ! What a com- 
plication of sorrows ! well might the most patient and 
virtuous man that ever lived on the earth, rise up mid 
rend his mantle, and speak as Job did. — Naked came 
I out of my mothers womb, and naked shall I return 
Anther : — But O what constant virtue !— The Lord 
gave, and the Lord hath taken away ; blessed be the 
name of the Lord. 

Now this calamity was all brought upon Job, by tl:3 
immediate agency of Satan ; if it was not so ; then I ask 
3 



14 

you, O reader, la show me that it was not. Then I wish 
to know of you in the first place, if Satan did not in- 
fluence the Sabeans to fall upon the oxen when they 
were ploughing and the asses feeding beside them, 
likewise to slay the servants with the edge of the 
sword ? This shows his power and influence over 
the minds of men. — It seems in the next place, that 
he had power over the fire of God which fell from 
heaven ; which I suppose to mean the visible heavens* 
or the clouds, and burnt up the sheep and servants. 
So here you see, he killed not only sheep but ser- 
vants. Can any one dispute after this, his power to 
kill us, if God should permit him ? and this he ef- 
fected by the grand artillery of heaven ! Lightning 
to be sure, or lire from the heavens or clouds, which 
)s the same thing. And it is highly probable, that 
all this was attended with heavy peals of thunder. 
Although we are informed by sacred writ, that there 
Is none that can thunder with a voice like God ; Yet, 
this expression of itself, is a plain intimation, that 
others can thunder. And if there is a created in^ 
telligence in the universe having the full scope of his 
natural powers, unrestrained, who can thunder, then 
it is highly probable, that it is Satan, or the prince of 
the power of the air. And I see nothing upon this hy«* 
pothesis, but that he may, with the permission of 
God, raise, and conduct a severe thunder storm, or 
dreadful tornado ! — O the power of Satan ! this 
shows his power over the air, and atmosphere ; what 
a cause of trembling, to the guilty sons of men. So 
again we see, that he influenced the minds of the 
Chaldeans, to make out three bands, and fall upon 
the camels, and carry them away, and slay the ser- 
vants.— Here then is another instance of his power 
over the moral world. How gloomy ! — But his rais- 
ing a wind from the wilderness, which smote the 
four corners of the house, where Job's children were 
all assembled on a festive occasion, and causing it to 
crush in, from every quarter at once, upon these 
poor defenceless sons and daughters of mirth, so as 
\q be sure to kill them all, — This seems to be about 




15 

his master-piece of hellish power and policy i amor.g 
the elements ! — for had the wind blown in a horizon- 
tal, or almost any other direction, it is highly prob- 
able that some of them would have escaped — but 
no — he must kill them all ! O the great destroyer of 
men 1 How emphatical the words ; all he hath is in 
thy jio~iver. — And in order to complete the misery of 
Job, he took the utmost extent of his grant. But the 
old fiend had one exploit more to perform, by the 
permission of God — and, that was, to do every thing 
to Job, but to take his life. — Accordingly he set his 
hellish projects of invention on foot, and at the ut- 
most stretch of infernal ingenuity, for he might not 
take his life, determined to smite him with sore biles^ 
front the crown of his head to the sole of his foot. 
And it is probable that even his vitals did not escape. 
— O his infernal sagacity to invent, and diabolical 
power to effect! And now I ask you, O reader, do 
you believe that he could effect this, without first 
corrupting the whole system of Job's biood. If he 
could corrupt Job's system ; why not yours or mine, 
and that of the whole human race, with the same 
ease ? if God should give him a permit so to do : 
and so tet in death upon us from this quarter. Foi* 
we must suppose it was just as easy for him to kill 
.Job, as to do what he did, especial!), as God laid his 
injunctions upon him, to spare his life. O our futile 
conceptions of the power of Satan ! 

And now, O reader, I would ask you, with all this 
glare of evidence, full in our view ? whether you 
have one doubt, one hesitation, as it respects the 
next to unlimited power of Satan, either in the na- 
tural or moral world, in relation to our system ? For 
methinks, we have collected evidence enough, from 
the occurrences of divine providence, and from the 
holy scriptures, to convince a Stoic. Methinjks I 
hear some of you respond to this question ;— O yes. 
We believe in the power of the devil as much as 
you do : that is to say, that at, and before the coming 
of our Saviour, he was dreadfully powerful ; and 
made distressing work in the world, but at the com- 



16 

ihg of Christ, he wonderfully curtailed his powers 
and chained him up in a certain sense ; so that he 
shall never have any visible, or frightful appearanc- 
es, more in this world : and that there will be no 
more demoniacs, or persons possessed of the devil ; 
as there was in ancient times. — Nor any very extra- 
ordinary operations of Satan upon the minds of 
men. 

And now I would ask you, O reader, who has told 
you so ? surely, in my opinion God has not. Nor 
are there any intimations cf it in his holy word. It 
is true, as it respects the children of God, that Christ 
has bafRcd him forever. But even as to these, they 
have a discipline to pass, and many of them a very 
sharp one too, through the midst of Satan's territo- 
ries ; where many of them are very roughly handled 
by the arch fiend. But let us consider the matte? 
a little ; and see if we cannot even in our weak ca- 
pacities, trace out something cf the policy of Satan 
—in varying the methods of his attack upon the an- 
cient world In their gross state of heathenism and 
darkness, and this world of christian light. 

Let us dwell upon the subject for a moment ;— it 
is an important one. We will suppose then, that 
Satan has an equal power now, eventually to ruin 
mankind, as he had in the ancient and heathen world. 
Yet, since the Messiah has come, and the throne of 
grace erected, and the way to the Father so plainly 
and perfectly laid open ; it is highly probable that 
his mode cf attack will be very different at this d*)^ 
and in a gospel land, from what it was among the 
ancients. In those days he would enter the bodies 
of the inhabitants, bruise and mangle them, torture 
and wound them,— distress and toiment their souls, 
—fill them with insupportable anguish' — make them 
cry out and roar bitterly, but no 'relief. Should they 
apply to their friends or physicians, they could reach 
them no comfort. And should they cry to their 
gods, it would be the same ; for these were all de- 
vils, or completely under his power. Satan in this 
way therefore might sport with them, and make 



17 

them objects of terror and amazement to them- 
selves, and their friends about them. 

Now, should he make use of his barefaced, infer- 
nal agency in a Christian land, where they are pri- 
soners of hofie, this would so terribly scare and 
frighten them, that it would immediately drive them 
to their knees, where they would incessantly ply the 
throne of grace, in and through a glorious Mediator ; 
and this would be the last engine that Satan would 
make use of, for the destruction of human souls. 
We must therefore suppose him, should we admit 
that his power over the human race is as great now 
as ever, to vary his shape, and assume a different 
form — We must therefore now suppose him to put 
on the garb of an angel of light ; and in this way it 
is to be feared he can work more ruin, than we are 
apt to conceive of. Doubtless there are exceptions 
to this mode of attack, for wherever he discovers a 
lunatic, or a person under alarming convictions of 
sin, or one that is near the borders of despair — or 
one whom he has influenced to do some great crime 
— or a person of a gloomy mind, or apprehension-— 
in all such cases he will use violence. It is here 
that he will act the roaring lion, and croud the mind 
with such gloomy and terrible ideas, and perhaps at 
the same time nerve the body, till he drives to some 
dreadful act of desperation ! — so that the man will eith- 
er assasinate himself, or some other person. And no 
doubt likewise, this old prince of darkness is the 
chief instigator of all the murders in the world ; and 
the duels that are -fought. — No doubt as it respects 
gloomy persons, especially those that are so on a re- 
ligious account, he may have two motives : one may 
be, to throw the person as he hopes unprepared into 
the eternal world ! — And the other may be to inspire 
a general prejudice amongst loose and carnal men 
against religion ; holding it up as a terrible and 
gloomy thing,— as much as to say, see here are your 
christians, a great many of which run crazy, and not 
a few of these kill themselves ; here is another arti- 
fice of Sutan for the destruction of souls.— I shall 



is 

proceed to mention another, which, perhaps, is rare- 
ly thought of; and that is his overbearing power in 
bringing on dulness, and sleepiness upon the human 
frame. For I think we have abundantly proved^ 
that he has a great ascendency over the human ma* 
chine, and can as easily bring on sleep as sickness. 
But sleep, you will say is the gift of God ; given to 
us for refreshment, as relaxation from labor and sor- 
row, — so is wine ; but if immoderately used, it be- 
comes a great curse. But the sleep, that I have re- 
ference to, is the sleeping in the sacred house of 
God 1 — while the bread and water of life are dispen- 
sing — and the heavenly manna is failing, — at the 
time of the harvest of the soul — while every ons 
ought to be gathering a portion. New if Satan can 
make us sleep on in this way, we lose all the benefit 
of the word preached ; and he might as well have 
influenced us to stay at home. Potent engine i His. 
great work, and master-piece device, at this day is 
to lull the world to sleep, and keep them so. No ? 
not a leaf will he suffer to fall, or shake, in the 
camp of the sinner, if he can help it. He dissemi- 
nates' among them peace* joy and rejoicing, such as 
it is ; joviality — hiliarity — and all the social feelings ; 
so that they often feel as though they could cry out ; 
What heeds all this ado about religion I — Where is 
the promise of his coming ? — -for since the fathers 
fell cslec/2, all things continue as Ihey roere from the 
beginning of the creation. 

And if at any time they are pricked in their hearts. 
and are under alarming apprehensions concerning 
their state ; no doubt he instantly does all in his 
power to heal and soothe them. 

And if their impressions become more alarming 
still, doubtless he Sies with a dreadful velocity, and 
applies every deadly opiate in his power. And if 
lie cannot as yet succeed, but the work goes on, and 
will go on ; his next project will be perhaps, to 
drive them to extremes : and open to their imagina- 
tion the scenes of destruction. While presenting 
lo the view of fchsir minds, or imagination, the 



19 

pit of destruction without a covering. While in this 
distressed state of the soul, he may cause some ima- 
ginary appearance in the mind, perhaps, such as that 
of our Saviour, or any other, as may best suit with 
his wiles : and then by his agency removing the bur- 
den from the mind of the man, make the poor crea- 
ture believe that he has found Christ. — Perhaps, he 
may then infuse vast and amazing joys into the minds 
cf such as he is master of, and knows how to manage 
to advantage ; and now the poor creature takes this 
for saving conversion to God. And moreover, Sa- 
tan, it is not likely, has any objection to the renew- 
ing of these scenes, as often as the state of the man 
shall seem to require it. Dreadful deception — Fatal 
rock ! on which we have reason to fear, thousands and 
tens of thousands of our race have split ! — 

Perhaps you will wonder, O reader, why I dwell 
so much on the power of Satan. It is a gloomy sub- 
ject, to be sure : but perhaps, more advantageous 
than we are apt to conceive of at first view. The 
great Apostle to the Gentiles could say, We are not 
ignorant of his devices. No small attainment ! I 
know that it is a very disagreeable thought ; to sup- 
pose ourselves continually surrounded by these In- 
fernal, Potent beings ! but I do not see, but we must 
suppose it, and believe it ; if we have recourse to 
the sacred records ; for there we are expressly in- 
formed, that the great dragon was cast out of hca* 
ven ; that old serjient, called the Devil, and Satan 3 
-rvhich deceiveth the world : he was cast out into the 
earthy and his angels were cast out with him. Now 
here is an expression strong in point — which deceiv- 
eth the whole world ! And if he deceives the whole 
world, then we are all, more or less, deceived by 
him. How fearful our state ! 

And again, we are told from sacred writ, that the 
devil is come down unto you having great wrath) be* 
cause he knoweth he hath but a short time. 

Once more ; It was Satan's express answer to the 
Almighty, when He asked him whence comest thou ? 
Then Satan answered, the Lord* from going to and 



20 

fro in the earth, and from walking ufi and down m 
it. And if this is his employment doubtless it is of 
all his legions too. For Satan himself can speak 
the truth, and in this case he could be under no 
temptation to do otherwise. So that if we can be- 
lieve the great father of lies, but especially the in- 
fallible word of God, then we fully believe that we 
have established this point : which is, that we are 
surrounded by devils. 

How critical our situation ! 

But we were upon his transforming power, and 
perhaps there is not a christian grace or virtue, but 
what he will counterfeit. Doubtless he will create 
a presumptuous faith — a spurious repentance — a 
rotten hope — a false joy — a fiery frantic zeal — an 
unwarrantable confidence — and, a growth of bigotry 
and censure : and all these carried to an extravagant 
length. 

how dangerous : 

1 have been the more particular my friends in re- 
lation to the machinations of this foul apostate, be- 
cause I have been dreadfully deluded by him myself; 
and that for a great length of time. And during all 
that time I don't know but I have watched and guard- 
ed with the greatest assiduity and attention ; but the 
delusion was so great and so wonderfully conducted 
by the great deceiver that I could not discover it ; 
and it is highly probable that I never should jtill my 
dying day, had not the Lord of hosts wonderfully in- 
terposed, and by His own strong and Almighty arm 
irresistibly brought me off from it. 

Now I believe it is a debt 1 owe my God, my con- 
science, and the souls of men, to divulge this story: 
and make a true relation of facts to my fellow travel- 
lers to the grave. 

And may the Almighty in his infinite wisdom and 
mercy giant me an accurate mind, a sound judg- 
ment, a clear discernment and memory, while I re- 
late the important subject. Then after premising 
that I purpose to write a history of these wonderful 
things, with all the religious experiences of my life? 



21 

as soon as God in his providence shall give me op- 
portunity. The title of which, if printed will be, 
A Brief of the Author's Life, which little book 
will have All the credentials and testimonials of evi- 
dence, and will be accompanied with proper affida- 
vits, so far forth as human testimony can be concern- 
ed, shewing the truth of the whole story. 

And lest it should be said that I am going to do 
this out of private or sinister motives, I will inform 
you, O reader, that I have had great anxiety and so- 
licitude to know what is my duty with regard to the 
avails of this little book, should I live to print it. 
And upon the most mature and solemn considera- 
tion, have determined eventually to take no profits 
of the sale of the book to myself, or suffer it to go 
to my heirs or any other person, so far forth as I can 
prevent it ; with a solemn request that into whatso- 
ever part of the world it may come, the Legislators 
thereof would never suffer it to become private pro- 
perty ; but forever to be appropriated as follows; 
that is to say, 

I shall proceed to the printing of it, should God 
give me opportunity, and after having all the ex- 
pences of the work defrayed out of the same, I will 
hold the residue of the profits of all the work in my 
own hands for one year ; or if I should see fit to lay 
out the avails of it in any personal property, then I 
will have the privilege of holding that property so 
long a time as is generally understood sufficient to 
make one turn of the same, and I not subjected to 
pay interest for the same : and unless I shall lose 
the principal, or part of the principal in so doing, 
or the money that I may have in my hands as afore- 
mentioned at the year's end. Then I will consider 
myself as under strict obligation to pay over imme- 
diately the principal of any such money or other 
property as aforementioned, to the taeasury of the 
Lord of Hosts, for the use of the Bible and Mission- 
ary societies, for the purpose of propagating the gos- 
pel through the world. Under these regulations,, 
and no other, they having the same privileges with 



22 

myself, will I endeavor to leave this little book, should 
I live to write it, to my heirs and successors. 1 view 
this a sacred deposit to the Almighty. And I a long 
time considered with myself, whether or not 1 ought 
to take any of the profits of the work to myself : but 
considering that unless there were some small mat- 
ter to induce the enterprize of the same, that the 
work might never be carried into any great effect, 
therefore, in the most solemn manner, as in the pre- 
sence of God, I do think it right and just that it 
should be printed under the aforesaid regulations. 

Now, not knowing that I shall live to perform this, 
or may be prevented from it by some unforeseen 
event, and believing it is possible that some souls may 
be benefitted by this, and before I can possibly print 
the other book, and moreover being fully convinced 
that it is really my duty so to do, and as in the im- 
mediate presence of the All-wise God, I shall pro- 
ceed to sketch out these wonderful delusions ; and 
I hope, wonderful deliverances. I here begin the 
astonishing account.— 

Early in life, how early I do not exactly know, but 
it appears that about as long ago as I can remember 
any thing, I began to have something like religious 
impressions, and a desire of being saved. This was 
about as early, it appears to me, as my first acquaint- 
ance with the gospel ; for here, once for all, I must 
acknowledge that I have been shamefully negligent, 
through the whole course of my life, in that I have 
not kept a diary, nor any minutes of my passing time. 
But to proceed with my childhood, I believe I was 
strictly moral. What my impressions were, with 
respect to religion, generally, I know not. I was 
playful and sprightly, like other children. When 
between thiiteen and fourteen years of age, or about 
that time, my father with his family, removed from 
Sunderland, in the then county of Hampshire, to 
Wiiliamsburgh, in the same county, Massachusetts. 
Soon after his settling in the town of Wiiliamsburgh, 
there began to be somewhat of a religious operation 
on the minds of the people : not so much J believe 



23 

lb Williamsburgh, however, as in some of the neigh- 
boring towns. But suffice it to say, that during these 
exercises among the people, I then supposed that I 
participated in divine grace : and I believe it was so 
in the judgment and charity of others. I believe it 
was thought that I gave great evidence of a christian 
experience. And in my own view was progressing 
in divine things. 1 had great joy and rejoicings in 
God, as I think ; and great views of the divine cha- 
racter, — the nature of sin, and holiness, — spiritual 
views of heaven and hell, — many sacred touches of 
the holy spirit, and divine illuminations as it appear- 
ed to me. In this state I went on for about ten years, 
if my memory serves me ; I then fell under great 
outward trouble, which became very severe — griev^ 
ing under this, in my retirement, I, all at once per- 
ceived an invisible being, that seemed to be coming 
to comfort and console me, with a language that was 
sweet and endearing. I do not mean that the lan- 
guage was truly vocal, but the communications made 
to my mind were perfect and entire, as any language 
could be. I was sweetly, and exceedingly surprized ; 
as it was the first of the kind I ever had. I received 
this as the special favor of heaven to me, to console 
me under my sorrows : for I soon recognised, as I 
thought, the Infinite Jehovah- — and in this capacity 
He fell into familiar conversation with me. And I 
found that I could freely converse with him. This 
invisible being I really thought was our Heavenly 
Father. No language of any earthly parent, could 
be more endearing. 

This conversation, or, these dialogues were re- 
newed from time to time. I recollect one night in 
particular, I lay awake a very considerable part of 
the night, when this conversation, which I called a 
heavenly conversation, occupied a great part of the 
time : and there w T as a greatness, and a sweetness 
in it, that I cannot describe. 

By what methods these communications were made 
to my mind I cannot determine : but I believe it to 
!?e the perfect language of the invisible world ; and 



'24 

I see no reason, if God should permit it so to be, why 
they cannot perfectly communicate with us. And 
now, O my friends, do you believe this was all the 
Devil ? I do, if you do not. 

His next appearance was to personate a human 
departed spirit. This was one of my deceased 
friends — he personated him as in a state of glory ; 
this, we had good reason to hope, was so ; but Satan 
personated him to the life, from time to time, in his 
own natural capacity ; but only glorified. He spoke 
wonderfully of his own death, of the glories of the 
heavenly world to which he had arrived. This de- 
ceased friend sometimes appeared to be alone, at 
other times he appeared to be in company with ma 
ny of the heavenly host. How many of these appear- 
ances there were I know not ; but they were fre- 
quent. 

At length they subsided for a number of years, 
till it pleased God in his providence to call me to 
the sharpest trial I ever endured, the sickness and 
death of my dear partner in life. A little^ before her 
death, as she lay apparently in a happy state and con- 
dition of mind, calmly resigned to death, I was out 
in the field, a considerable distance from the house, 
and had been very earnest in prayer for her, Satan 
in the capacity of the Almighty there made the de- 
claration to me that her salvation was eternally sure ; 
as sure as his eternal throne. I considered this a 
declaration of the Almighty, and therefore it could 
but give comfort. — My wife lay a number of days 
apparently in a comfortable state of mind, and then 
very unexpectedly to us, departed this life. Such a 
stroke as being deprived of the desire of my eyes, in 
the bloom and vigor of youth, was almost insupport- 
able. It was now I needed divine consolation : 
whether I had it or no, I know not ; but my mind 
was uncommonly calm. But one thing I know to 
my entire satisfaction, that I was immediately visited 
by these delusions ; they appeared to be renewed in 
great increasing strength. And these scenes of 
communication were perfectly astonishing, and wer&- 



^5 
far greater, and appeared more glorious than I can 
. describe. There was something so great— so majes- 
tic— so worthy of superior beings— such deep reve- 
rence for God— such holy conversation— such cohe- 
rence, method, aptness and incomparable greatness, 
as perfectly astonished me, and nearly every person 
to whom I related it. And in all these, there appear- 
ed to be the most perfect holiness and delight in God 
O now these beings would extol the mercy of Gcd 
in Christ.— How they would speak of the compassion 
of Christ to our world.— The infinite importance of 
sinners pressing into the kingdom of heaven.— And 
how delighted they were at the conversion of sinners, 
and the outpourings of the spirit of God.— How they 
would charge me not to sin against God,— to walk 
uprightly ; if I stepped aside from the path of duty, 
* was almost sure to get reproved. 

I will mention a case which now occurs to mv 
mind; I was one day passing through the street in 
Wuhamsburgh when attended as I supposed by one 
of my holy guardians, I had a desire to stop at a 
store thinking it probable that there might be some 
people there ; when this supposed guardian of mine, 
demanded of me, whether, if I went in there, I would 
keep from sinning against God ; or joining anv lip In, 
vain or tnfhng com P any.-I promised that I* would 
no join such company; accordingly I went in, and 
believe that I performed my engagement. This was 
the substance, rfhot the words of our conversation, 
i his case J mention as a special instance of their 
guardianship, over my walk and behaviour 

I might mention a number of instances of reproof 
which I received from them ; but passing that, I shal 
proceed From the time of the decease 8 of mv wife 
her spirit seemed to appear to me as a daily minis' 
l l"" S , S P im - , AncI she S*™ me to understand that 
she had arrived at glory, and was perfectly happy in 
a state .of blessedness, and was sent down to comfort 
me ; and seemed to appear with the same beautiful 
aspect, that she had on earth ; only glorified. And 
seemed to speak wonderfully of her death, and kev 



26 

arrival in heaven — and how she was sent down to 
comfort and console me ; — and upon the day of her 
interment she seemed to converse much upon her 
own death, burial and resurrection to eternal life. 
These ministrations of her's seemed now to become 
regular, and daily administered ; and seemed to be 
so full of light, and joy, and expressions of the love 
of God, that there is nothing on earth can compare 
-with them. 

This spirit, which seemed to be the spirit of my 
departed wife, seemed to continue her daiiy visits 
for more than eight years — and frequently several 
times in a day. 

I was previously admonished of the approach of 
this spirit, and of all others, that ever appeared to 
me, some little time beforehand. — Perhaps half a 
minute.— Perhaps yen will ask, What this notice, or 
previous admonition was, by which you perceived 
their approach ? 

All that I can say about it is, That I felt a strange 
alteration in my whole frame, and an unusual draw- 
ing of the mind up to the spiritual or heavenly world. 

How many appeared to me in this way, or how 
many were personated I cannot tell, but a great num- 
ber surely. For besides my daily ministrations which 
were personated as the one abovementioned, I had 
a great number of pretended holy beings besides, 
which seemed to be fraught with holy conversation, 
and laden with heavenly treasures ; while such holy 
and wonderful conversation would break from their 
lips, as no tongue can express, nor heart conceive I 

Sometimes a particular saint seemed to be speak- 
ing on some wonderful theme, and instantly would 
be joined by an innumerable company of the heaven- 
ly host ; putting their Amen, and Hallelujahs to the 
song. 

It does appear to me, my friends, that the most 
distinguished saint on earth, having these views, must 
have taken them for holy beings, especially as all 
this was attended with great calmness and serenity 
of mind : and with the deepest reverence, for God. 
"and holy beings, as I thought. 



27 

These appearances were various, and seemed to 
personate the different characters of saints, according 
to their genius and employment here on earth. 

They seemed to inform of the various employ- 
ments in the heavenly world : but would seem most 
sacredly to adhere to the secret counsels of God. 
They would wonderfully expatiate upon the worth 
of the soul ; and most earnestly request of me, to 
make every exertion in my power for the good of 
human souls. 

O how they would express themselves concerning 
the holy word of God i how sacred and important it 
W as ; — they appeared to confine themselves in their 
observations entirely to it.— And would expressly 
say, To the law and to the testimony — for if we speak 
not according to this word, it is because we have no 
light or truth in us. 

And thus they seemed most zealous promoters of 
the law and testimony of God, and wholly swallowed 
up in divine employments, and holy ministrations to 
the Most High. 

Who is there among the sons of men, but would 
have taken these, for the worthy servants of Jeho- 
vah ? — Now this was not an illusion of the fancy, or 
.imagination, merely as such ; because, the recipient 
could immediately give a regular relation of these 
things, verbatim. And in the view and opinion of 
all candid and substantial people, they were perfect- 
ly supernatural, and in the view of many, they must 
be of heavenly origin, and above human language. — . 
O the inconceivable deceptions of Satan ! 

Why it should be so, that I should fall under these 
strange delusions of the adversary of souls, I know 
not. I always thought that I "had not only given the 
dew of my youth, but had, in a measure, consecrated 
my whole life to God. I thought myself an assidu- 
ous and a regular supporter of religion : and as far 
from any thing enthusiastic, as any person living. — • 
And I have endeavored conscientiously, generally 
speaking, to attend to the great duties of the chris- 
tian religion, during the whole course of my life,*— 



I 



I 



28 

\nd as to the great duty of secret prayer, I have no 
remembrance that ever I omitted it, as to the regu- 
lar and punctual attendance of it daily, for nearly for- 
ty years, — besides occasional ejaculatory prayer. — 
And I do not know, but that I have had a strict re- 
gard to the holy sabbath all this time. And as I have 
lived in times of great religious exercises, so, I do 
not know but I was always willing, according to my 
ability, to forward the work of religion, in the salva- 
tion of souls. And that I have had high, and holy 
communion with God. — All this I say, not boasting- 
!y, by any means, for if any of us have any thing, we 
received it from God. For what hast thou, that thou 
didst not receive, or, who made thee to differ ? — 
Neither do I believe that all our own righteousness, 
is any thing more or less, than filthy rags. But I 
speak it, to show that all our supposed attainments, 
and may be, real ones too, do not, nor cannot make 
us invulnerable against the shafts of Satan, but that 
we are constantly liable to fall under his malice, and 
dreadful delusion : unless almighty grace prevent. 

No doubt his power is inconceivable ! And should 
lie be permitted, he would dislodge our souls from 
our bodies, very quick : and it is probable that in his 
fury, he would tear the globe to pieces immediately : 
for he longs to wreak his vengeance on God and 
man ; and to despoil the universe of every particle 
of happiness. 

And so it will be, until the mighty angel that wc 
read of, shall chain him down in the bottomless pit- 
But if he is now coming down to us, having great 
wrath— knowing that he has but a short time ; how 
will he torture and worry the nations : and what 
black intrigues will he form — and what horrid com- 
binations exhibit, for the destruction of man. 

Possibly there has been, and will be, three very 
cmphatical periods of Satan's power in the world ; 
wherein he exerts himself with greater energy, and 
more violent malice, if possible, than at other times. 
One, was just before, and at the coming of Christ in 
the flesh — One just before, and at the beginning of 



ihe millennium j and, lastly, one just before and at the 
coming of Christ to final judgment. 

How great his power was just before and at the 
time of our Saviour's coming in the flesh, we are in- 
formed from sacred history. How great his power 
will be just before and at the beginning of the mil- 
lennium, is matter of conjecture ; and we know not. 
How great his power will be at and before the com- 
ing of Christ to final judgment, is equally uncertain, 

But if we look through the holy scriptures, and 
consider the general current of events, and consider 
the visible triumphs that the Almighty hath chosen 
to make, over the common enemy, in all ages of the 
world ; and how he generally suffers him to mature 
and ripen his plans, before Jehovah in his infinite 
wisdom, sees fit to throw confusion on them all, and 
in this way to leave visible instances of his victorious 
power : I think we have good reason to conclude, 
that the extent of Satan's power in that day, will 
become much more visible, than is generally con- 
ceived. 

Perhaps we are now approaching towards that glo- 
rious period, and it is shortly to be the case, that 
Satan's power will become more visible in effecting 
the bodies and minds of men, than at any time since 
our Saviour's appearance on earth. 

And now I would ask, Does not this visibility al- 
ready begin to appear ? Do we not hear of more dis- 
tressing cases of lunacy, perplexity, and possibly 
possession of the devil ; than has been heard of in 
latter ages ? Together with strange illuminations, 
wonderful impulses, and directions, which we may 
have good reason to believe, to suspect at least, to 
be the work of the adversary of souls. 

What a strange diffusion of influence seems ~t6 
pervade whole congregations of worshippers, while 
the grossest absurdities, and unwarrantable presump- 
tion appears to spread over the whole society, and 
produce felling, spasms, and convulsions — heart- 
aches, and groanings ; apparently under the power 
of sin ; swooning, fainting away, then lying apparent- 



I 



* 



so 

\y "like a corpse for a long time. Then we shall see 
them almost involuntarily to rise, stamp with their 
feet, clap their hands, and shout Glory to God I — 
And demanding, as it were, of the Almighty that he 
would come down among them, and bless them. 

Now, are we obliged to acknowledge,, that this Is 
the real, true worship of God ? Is this the still small 
voice that Elijah heard ? Is this the Holy Spirit that 
descended upon the disciples upon the day of Pente- 
cost. Are these the benign rays from the Sun of 
Righteousness ? And finally, is this a worshipping 
of God, as a God of order ? 

Other congregations there are, which seem to be 
under violent impulses, agitations and distortions. — 
We shall see them move in rapid circles, exhibit 
strange gestures, and motions of body — quite unac- 
countable to the beholder. Possibly they will tell 
you that they are led by the Spirit of God : but have 
we not reason to fear that another spirit has, at least 
some influence over them. 

And besides, is it not the case, that Satan is influ- 
encing great numbers of erroneous sectaries, per- 
haps never before known ; calculated to entangle 
and destroy mankind ? Now Satan does not care how 
much religion people have, if it be false — nor is it 
likely that he cares how near the mark, the creature 
comes, if he is sure to make him miss it. And be- 
sides, have we not reason to conclude, that he stu- 
dies and pervades the genius, and perfectly calcu- 
lates the constitution, blood, juices and fluids of ev- 
ery human body, as well as the aptitudes of every 
mind, within the whole circle of his domains in our 
world : and perfectly adapts his temptations and in- 
sinuations to the nature of every particular character, 
I say nothing of the torch of war, and persecution,. 
which Satan has lit up in all ages of the world, for 
the destruction of mankind. 

O what a sea of glass, mingled w T ith fire, does 
even the christian stand upon ! — 

But I hasten to finish my own particular short re- 
Jation. These malienant spirits, for vou must know. 



31 

that notwithstanding their transformation, that they 
were such, would diffuse a great degree of light, and 
joy, in their communications ; so much so, that I 
have thought they might have power to take the life 
away, even in this exercise. 

Their language was awfully sublime, and aston- 
ishingly comprehensive ! it appeared to be every 
way befitting and becoming that of holy, mighty prin- 
cipalities and powers. 

Their themes were sublime. — Sometimes the ho« 
liness, the power— the wisdom — the justice — the 
mercy — and the love of God. Sometimes on the 
happiness of heaven. — At other times on the out- 
pouring of the spirit of God on earth. — Sometimes 
upon the holy word of God — and his holy Sabbath — ■ 
frequently on eternity, and worth of souls. 

On ail these subjects they were clear, methodical, 
and wonderfully instructive. And I must say, very 
far surpassed every thing human ! It seemed as 
though it could but happify any one receiving it. 

In this, however, there was a seeming contrast, 
though it seldom occurred. For at certain times, I 
v/as sharply assaulted with the suggestions, and ex- 
pressions of Satan, in his own native colours. This 
tended very much to sweeten the company and at- 
tendance of these supposed holy beings. 

But what conduced more, perhaps, to confirm me 
in this, was, that these foul and malignant beings as- 
sumed to themselves, every endearing name, title, 
and attribute of Jehovah. It was now that the lan- 
guage assumed at times a higher tone than ever. 
For it was frequently the case, that I appeared to be 
addressed immediately by the Infinite Jehovah him- 
self. And much in the same manner as was Moses, 
and the Patriarchs — It was now that I was inwrapt 
in deep reverence, and amazement ; to suppose the 
Creator of all, was addressing a worm of the dust. 

This language appeared to me, to be well worthy 
the Infinite Majesty of Heaven : and seemed like 
the language of the sublime parts of scripture. 
Though very kind, affectionate, endearing and pa- 
rental, 



32 

This was frequently renewed. 

I was now anxious to do my whole duty, and attend 
to this voice of God, as I supposed, while my other 
interviews with the other supposed holy beings con- 
tinued ; and of these there appeared to be a great 
number; including nearly, or quite all, the prophets 
and apostles of our Lord ; and many eminent depart- 
ed saints, who once belonged to Europe and Amer- 
ica. My intercourse with the world of spirits now 
became great. 

And among all this great variety of beings, there 
seemed to be as great a variety of genius and style ; 
and such a rich profusion of language, as I never be- 
fore heard, or ever expect to in this world : and I 
believe the same of you my reader*; for I believe that 
I can safely say, that among all this world of intelli- 
gences, I was constantly entertained with something 
new. The language was new, sweet, and surprising ; 
in this respect, it far out did every thing human !— 
and served as a continual fund of pleasure and sur- 
prise. So that I had no doubt that I know of, that 
they were not only perfectly holy beings, but highly 
exalted ones. And I now believe, that it was the 
greatest possible semblance to the spiritual and holy 
world above, of any that can be possibly made by sin- 
ful intelligences. If you ask me the methods of this 
joy and communication ? I will answer, that the lan- 
guage was inconceivably strong, clear, sweet, and 
appeared perfectly holy, and fraught with heavenly 
love, diffusing great joy and satisfaction to the mind ; 
but accompanied with a degree of violence, which I 
now suppose, is not incident to the pure joys of 
heaven. 

It appears to me, that during all this time, I was 
anxious not to be deceived, a. id earnestly addressed 
the throne of grace for that purpose. And many 
times my impression came so strong from my sup- 
posed deity, especially when I was alone, as caused 
me involuntarily to articulate words ; so that I pre- 
sume they might have been heard by others, had they 
been present. And ail this I believe, without the 



33 

least agency of mine ; any more than that of a clock $ 
or watch, or other machine : and this was performed 
without the least uneasiness, or painful distortion of 
body : but directly the reverse. It tended to exhila- 
rate both body and mind. Here again, I was led to 
bring up another contrast ; that of the oracles of the 
east, and the distortions, ragings, convulsions, foam- 
ings, and sometimes even dying of the sybil who was 
the organ of them. Now these evil spirits, would at 
once consent that these sybils were acted upon by 
infernal agency : therefore, my case could not be 
like theirs. And, consequently from the different 
effects, must be from the Almighty. Here then was 
another strong reason for the delusion continuing. 
And why it shouid be so, that I should be so over- 
taken by the power of the adversary, I know not, and 
it is a point that I cannot solve in any other way, but 
only to consider it as the pleasure of him who works 
all things according to the counsel of his own will. 

I have a few words more on this subject, and I 
have done. You will naturally ask me, if these be- 
ings had any point to which they were aiming ? To 
which I answer, they had. And that was, the intro- 
duction of the great millennium of the church of 
Christ. They pretended to presage, and to be fore- 
runners of that great event ; and endeavoured to 
convince me, that a more wonderful communication 
from heaven to earth, was about to open. — Not that 
any new revelations were about to take place, or any 
possible additions to the written word of God : or, 
any thing that could be construed in that way ; They 
seemed with the most scrupulous anxiety to guard 
every page of the word of the Most High ; and show 
that it was all sacred writ and inviolable — and seem- 
ed to speak such pieces on the purity of it, as I nev- 
er before heard, or ever expect to hear in this 
world. 

They would seem to insinuate, not that there was 
to be any new revelation, as I before said ; but a new 
and wonderful administration of the former. There 
would be, more wonderful discussions, explanations. 



/ 

/ 



34 

and the like, in the new period of the Church, which 
is about to commence. And this was to be effected, 
in a great measure, by the blending as it were of 
heaven and earth. For they would seem* to insinuate 
thai; the celestial hosts would actually come down to 
this earth ; open, and carry on a perfect correspon- 
dence with its inhabitants. Another thing, they 
would anxiously request me to write these things, 
and publish them to the world ; assuring me of the 
vast importance of them ; and holding up the idea, 
tha. such things ought not to be lost. And the one 
that personated the Almighty Jehovah, I believe 
would order me to write these things. He seemed 
to leave me to consult my own convenience, in some 
measure about it. Assuring me, however, that 
wnen I did set about it, he would furnish me with 
matter sufficient, from the invisible world, holding 
up the idea, that this would appear to be supernatu- 
ral, heavenly, and divine — and would pass through 
the world like a shock of electricity, as it were, and 
instantly bring the world, and the nations thereof, 
into the kingdom and sheepfold of Christ. — The 
whole tenor ot scripture, appeared at this time, to 
favour this plan. All the endearing expressions re- 
lating to the Father, and the Son, — The fellowship 
and oneness of the saints, with the Divine Being ; — 
all seemed strong in point. But more especially, 
the words of the Apostle John, in the words that fol- 
low. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, 
coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a 
bride adorned for her husband. 

Now I was led to believe, that these referred to 
the millennium, and that the only proper construc- 
tion of scripture, and where the sense will bear it, 
is, the literal one. And the literal one, in this case, 
would be, that the inhabitants of heaven would actu- 
ally come down to the earth, and open a correspon- 
dence with men here below.-*— I was led to believe the 
absurdity of any other construction. Thus, you see, 
that every thing combined to hold me under these 
Strong delusions. — And in these \ must have re- 



35 

mained to my dying day, had not the Almighty in his 
infinite wisdom, and I hope mercy too, reach'd out 
the strong arm of his power, and wonderfully rescu- 
ed me ! But by what particular means, it is not now 
necessary to relate. Suffice it to say, that in the 
course of events, I w 7 as convinced, and effectually 
convinced, that these were all the delusions of Satan. 
And that, although, mankind never could have con- 
vinced me, the Lord alone, made a short work of it I 
— In this, there were no supernatural voices, or com- 
munications, from God. 

As soon as I was convinced, I instantly concluded 
to stand on the defensive ; and under God, to defy all 
the powers of darkness. 

A dreadful conflict ensued. Soon, however, I be- 
gan to experience refreshing views, as I thought, 
from the heavenly world. 

Tht heavens seemed almost to open to my view. 
These things appeared wholly spiritual, and of the 
same nature of what I received in early life, before I 
fell under my late delusions,~but very different from 
them.— The views I now had seemed to resemble 
those which St. Stephen had. But my dreadful con- 
flict soon began. — I was quickly assaulted by the 
powers of darkness, and every thing which their 
horrid minds could invent, was suggested or con- 
veyed to my mind. 

As long as J could hold, in my own view, my in- 
nocence, I could stand against them : but they heap'd 
such a load of these wicked expressions upon me, 
that I sunk under them. The impressions were so 
strong and violent that they made me to realize them 
in some measure, and to consider them as my own. 

They brought on me a state of deep despondency^ 
and almost total despair ! They suggested to my mind, 
that I had spoken irreverently of the dealings of God 
with me, and consequently there could be no hope 
for me. 

In this state, therefore, I sunk down into great 
distress of mind, with but seeming little hope. I 
expected that the neighborhood and world, would 



36 

soon be alarmed at my condition. At this time 
it was very strongly suggested to my mind, that I had 
but a short time to live — but a very few days. In 
this dreadful tragedy, there appeared to be two ac- 
tors ; one seemed to personate the Infinite Jehovah, 
and the other the adversary of souls ; and they both 
seemed determined there should be no relief for me. 
Now this was my first general onset, and ought to 
have been mentioned before ; some part of what I 
have previously said, belonged to my second attack, 
in order. Let us proceed then with the first attack. 
These two personated beings, beforementioned, plied 
all their sagacity to make me miserable. The one 
first mentioned seemed to consign me over to the 
other ; and the rage of the latter seemed to be dread- 
ful. My misery at this time was almost inconceiva- 
ble ! It was now, as beforementioned, that I expect- 
ed a general alarm on my account. The suggestions 
of these invisible creatures were shocking and fright- 
ful. And now, here I would observe once for all, 
that in all these scenes of delusion, I never heard 
any thing vocal, or that I supposed to be voices, but 
once. In this instance there seemed to be four in 
company, one of which seemed to be speaking to me 
of the praises due to Christ. This one seemed to 
speak by suggestion, as the others before had always 
done ; — speaking immediately before of Christ, this 
one directed the others to ascribe to him, meaning 
Christ, Hallelujahs ; and upon this, the most solemn 
and awful Hallelujahs broke nearly over my head. 
These seemed to be real voices, exceedingly heavy 
and melodious ; and they appeared to speak in regu- 
lar succession one after the other, Alleluia. And I 
cannot but think, had you been present with me, O 
reader, you would have heard the same. 

But to return to the scenes of my distress. I 
seemed to be fast crowding on to destruction. In 
this situation, I sent a young man, with whom I was 
at work, to give the alarm ! Accordingly he went to 
my father's house, but evaded his errand. In the 
mean time, I thought whether there might not be 



57 

some hopes for me. Now my mind was led to aci 
dress another kind of being from those I had been 
conversing with. And I earnestly addressed the 
throne of grace for a considerable time : at first it 
seemed but little propitious to my prayers ; but I con- 
tinued them with great attention. It was now that 
my faith and confidence in God seemed to strength- 
en, and gain, in a measure, the ascendency over my 
fears — and my mind was very much becalmed. I 
felt a filial confidence in the Most High. My faith 
wonderfully strengthened ; and it appeared to me to 
he as strong as that which stopped the mouths of lions. 
And I do not know but I felt willing, under the con- 
duct of God, to enter the field of combat again, with 
these roaring lions. I felt a degree of faith, which 
is difficult to describe. I felt as though God was my 
friend, and notwithstanding their suggestions were 
so cruel and fierce, J felt as though I could defy 
them, in the name of Israel's God, to speak or utter 
a word. And I believe I had the pleasure and satis- 
faction of knowing that it took place — and that they 
could not speak or utter a word for a long time. 
And during this time, or a little before, I stood in a 
posture of defence, body and mind. And although 
I had wisdom enough to know that any such posture 
of body could be of no avail, merely considered as 
such, to ward off principalities and powers, yet, in- 
asmuch as it indicated a more perfect state of defence, 
and more effectually tended to nerve the mind 
against the assaults of the adversary, I made use of 
it ; for I made use of every exertion of body and 
mind ; for if Satan should ever be suffered to roar 
upon us, he would make us put forth every exertioa 
in our power. This day, as I believe, was accompa- 
nied with strong faith in God. I felt as though I had 
the ascendency over my spiritual enemies : and re- 
tired calmly to rest. The next day, if I mistake not, - 
I had a strong and lively faith in God, in the fore part 
of the day, and such a faith in God, as I believe but 
few are exercised with, and such as I believe isnev- 
p$ given, but in times of extraordinary trials ; this 



38 

was accompanied with great happiness to the rnincL 
■ — I recollect that I now told a young woman in the 
neighborhood, who had lately professed religion, that 

I now felt like an eternal conquerer But alas ! I 

soon fell under the power of Satan again ; for as a 
brother of mine had a house raised on that day, and 
a very considerable part of the town were collected 
for the purpose ^ in a gloomy and dejected state of 
mind I came to the place,— just cast my eye upon it, 
and retired. — I went into a neighboring lot, scarcely 
knowing whither I went, kneeled down in prayer, 
and attempted to address the throne of grace.— Bu; 
I received short, and sudden answers, that I had com- 
mitted the unpardonable sin ; — and there was no 
hopes for me : this had been the declaration of these 
evil spirits from the first. The being whom I was 
now addressing in prayer, was, as I supposed, my 
Maker. — But the being that seemed to answer me,. 
must be very far from being the true God : although 
he seemed to personate the Holy Trinity; and scared 
me into a belief that it was so. Yet, he gave me 
short, abrupt and spiteful answers : and would scarce- 
ly permit me to speak, before he interrupted me : 
and told me among other things, not to stir out of 
that place till the sun was flat down. — All this not 
only dreadfully distressed my mind, but greatly af- 
fected my body.— I was so overcome with terror and 
distress, that 1 still thought that the being who was 
giving these answers was the Almighty. 

In this situation and posture, I remained about five 
hours, then all at once my burden seemed to be gone, 
and I thought I had liberty to go : But I durst not 
go, without the leave of my supposed commander : 
accordingly, I believe that I asked him, if 1 might 
go, and he said that I might. The sun was near- 
ly an hour high. But the truth is, I believe his pow- 
er was arrested and he could do no more at that time. 
I then felt relieved, and somewhat calm in my mind, 
and conversing with some christian friends, they en- 
deavored to convince me that I had not committed 
the unpardonable sin : but still I was considerably 



39 

terrified, and afraid to sleep alone. And about this 
time, requesting one of my friends to sleep with me, 
the devil then spoke to me,- — for I must call it speak- 
ing, and so would you, reader, had you been in the 
same circumstances — And said to me,- — What are 
you afraid of, you fool ? nothing will hurt you — in- 
termixing a profane word, in the sentence. 

Upon which I replied, I thought you was God, or 
the Almighty ; — he answered, I am God ; — and by a 
horrid expression joining all intelligences together, 
in heaven, earth and hell, which I shall not here enu- 
merate, — he concluded, by saying, — i or, any thing, 
to answer the purpose.' 

The reader will observe, that these expressions of 
Satan, were not vocal, but intellectual, and had a 
perfect semblance to language, and were perfectly 
understood by me. 

This answer of Satan, as abovementioned, gave me 
relief at once. For I now had no longer doubts that 
it was Satan, who troubled me so in the lot, when he 
personated the Deity. Possibly I may make some 
mistakes in the rehearsal of events from day to 
day, in their order : for this was a gloomy period 
with me ; and I did not keep a diary, as I before said ; 
but I will endeavor to be as exact as I can. These 
great scenes of sorrow began near the last of May, 
1816, and they continued incessantly, with alternate, 
scenes of joy and comfort, as I suppose from God, 
until I obtained a hopeful relief. 

But, to pursue my story, — After I had received 
this answer from Satan, I went home to my father's 
house in company with my brother, and as I think, 
one more : and here from what follows in the con- 
versation, I some think, that this was before I had 
received the aforementioned answer from Satan, it 
being impossible for me to recollect with certainty. 
My brother then obsesved to me, that I had not com- 
mitted the unpardonable sin : but that it was the work 
of Satan, in trying to make me believe it, or drive 
me to it. Likewise my brother observed ; that he 
did not believe that God made any such commurJca- 



40 

lions to us, as I had represented. — This gave m£ 
great relief ; my brother still accompanied me to 
my father's house, and in the evening prayed with 
the family ; and when requesting oi God, that he 
would give his holy angels charge concerning us that 
night, Satan, by his cruel suggestion to me, made 
answer : All but you, I'll take care of you. I men- 
tion this, to show that I was almost constantly beset 
by the old serpent. I soon retired to rest ; my two 
brothers sleeping near me in the same room. I was 
considerably distressed some part of the night. My 
brothers began to converse with me in the morning, 
and endeavored to comfort me. While I lay griev- 
ing at my situation, there was a conversation between 
us, upon the mercy of God. I began to feel better 
in my mind, and felt something of a filial confidence 
in God, as I believe, that he would not cast me off, 
y/hether it was on this morning or not, I cannot 
certainly tell ; but it was about this time, I went out 
a few rods from the house, being much clouded with 
*fcrkii*** wl *crrc*7, I beg??:* *° pray, and continued 
in prayer for several hours, while I met with the same 
repulse as I did in the lot ; and from just such a be- 
ing. — In the afternoon I walked abroad, in the fields ; 
and as I was addressing the Divine Being, in my 
walk, I believe I received as sensible communion 
with God, as is scarce ever received in this world : 
for if water had been poured down in copious effu- 
sions from the clouds upon me, it appears to me that 
I should not have been more sensible of it than I was 
of receiving the plentiful effusions of the Holy Spirit. 
He seemed to make intercessions for me, with groan= 
ings which could scarce be uttered. For I received 
as I thought a sensible supply at every breath ; and 
my soul was filled. I now acquired great confidence 
lit God ; and turning to Satan, whom I supposed was 
near me, I addressed him in this manner : O you 
black, hellish monster ! How dare you take the great 
and dreadful name of God, and all his endearing 
titles and attributes, into your polluted lips, in the 
i-nanner you have done ? But my conflicts were % 



41 

from ending ; for directly after this, when I had re- 
turned to the house, and was sitting in my chair, I 
was filled with gloom and melancholy to such a de- 
gree, as overpowered me ; and I suppose affected my 
nerves ; though wholly from Satan's influence, which 
caused me to make strange and uncommon noises, — 
which very much terrified the people. It threw me 
into a nervous kind of convulsions, which I knew was 
wholly effected by Satan. — The people in the neigh- 
borhood were gathered, expecting that I was about 
to make my exit, or lose my reason, or some terrible 
occurrence w r as about to take place. The shakings 
that I had were successive and very violent. Satan 
would say, or suggest to me, that he would shake me 
into hell the next time. I had my reason so well, 
that I was sensible that it was the power of Satan that 
affected me. I believe he caused me to articulate 
words that I had no kind of agency in. These words, 
however, I suppose were not sinful, but only fright- 
ful. The minister and physician of the parish were 
both sent for. When it was asked if I was willing 
to hear the minister pray, I answered, I have no ob- 
jection, but it will do no good, as I am going right 
down to endless destruction. He prayed with me, 
however, and my mind became more calm. 

The phy ician bled me. And Satan's power ceas- 
ed for a tune. And here I would observe, according 
to my best recollection, that in all those violent agi- 
tations and convulsions of body, there was no pain 
attending them. 

I had one dreadful conflict more, which I shall 
mention in its place. How it was with me now for 
two or three days, I cannot precisely tell : in a short 
time from this, I slept at my brother's, with a Mr. 
Elijah Hayden, a very worthy, pious man. — Mr. Hay- 
den rose early in the morning and left me in bed. — ■ 
And about that time, or a little after, the glory of the 
God of Israel, seemed to fill the room ; there seem- 
ed to be a light, somewhat resembling material light, 
while a fixed view, or vision of God, and the heaven- 
ly world, seemed to appear. Here were no voices? 
5 * 



42 

no appearances, nor any communications : but mj 
whole soul seemed as it were absorbed and almost 
swallowed up, with one vast abstract view of God; 
and the heavenly world. 

It appeared to me that I was surrounded with holy 
beings, yet I heard thtm not ; but they seemed to be 
employed in the same glorious work with myself; — 
contemplating the glorious perfections of God. They 
seemed to be as it were like moveless statues of won- 
der and admiration ; filled with deep surprise, and a 
holy, heavenly air seemed to pervade the whole. I 
doubt not, that I was in possession of my reason at 
this time ; I thought within myself what an easy 
thing it would be to die. It appeared tome that the 
transit, from the state that I was then in, to join these 
holy beings, was short. And I moreover, made one 
or two attempts to see if I had power to bring my 
affections down to the earth ; or fix them upon any 
thing here below ; but I found that I could not ; for 
my soul made me like the chariots of Aminadib - r 
and immediately to arise to holy wonder and contem- 
plation. In this state I continued about three hours, 
for I was able to ascertain the time very nearly.-— 
'This was succeeded by another great scene of glo- 
ry on the morning following. How long this lasted 
I cannot tell ; it might be an hour, or more. 

This appeared to be constituted like the other, of 
perfect holiness. I now resolved to do my whole 
duty, and oppose Satan with all my might ; and set 
myself about it immediately. Can you believe, O 
reader, that I was now verging towards the most 
dreadful conflict with Satan, I ever had ? It is likely 
that he knew my resolution, and determined to pre- 
vent my carrying it into execution. 

The same morning, after enjoying these wonder- 
ous refreshings from the spirit of God, as I believe. 
Satan again filled me with gloomy apprehensions, 
which was observed by the family. 

My father and brother being a little distance from 
the house, taking down an old building, my brother 
came in first, I believe, and my father afterwards, aud 



43 

requested me \o go out and divert my mind with 
what they were about ; which I engaged, and intend- 
ed to do. But in sitting at the table, my gloom and 
melancholy increased, and the power of Satan came 
on me so strong, that I felt myself hardly able to 
move. I retired immediately, for the purpose of 
prayer ; — but feeling as though there was no mercy 
for me, and that I must sink down immediately to 
destruction — I thought it would be a sin, for me to 
ask mercy for myself,— I inadvertently made an ex- 
pression, or part of an expression, that I had no 
thought of making ; which, as I think, was wholly 
by the influence and power of Satan. I remained in 
a very gloomy and melancholy state of mind all that 
day. My friends endeavored to comfort me. I said 
nothing of my attempting to pray.— I spent the day 
in this situation. In the evening I retired for secret 
prayer, as I ever had done — I was greatly beset by 
the adversary, after going to bed. I believe that I 
prayed to God, and resisted Satan alternately, the 
fore part of the night. 

Satan would now suggest to my mind distressing 
ideas of my guilt, in one or two inadvertent expres- 
sions. He then seemed to demand of me whether 
I had not expressed myself as he stated in another 
-case. I answered him that I did not know any thing 
about it, and seemed to subjoin, that I did not care, 
He made answer in this way, — There's clear malice, 
—And upon this, he made me believe that I had 
committed the unpardonable sin ; or very much fear 
that I had. Upon which a shower of blasphemies 
was suggested to my mind, such as I never before 
heard of, or even conceived of, though I have no idea 
.that I uttered any thing aloud. This greatly affright- 
ed me. He would endeavor to make me think that 
I was as much a blasphemer, as he was ; and would 
string out his blasphemies, and call them mine : and 
try to make me think that I spoke them. Whereas 
I never had the least conscious agency, to my know- 
ledge, in my regular moments, in all that past in this 
way. My distress was so great, after all this, that I 



44 

believe that I sunk into a partial delirium. For, I 
had somewhat confused ideas of the place where I 
was : still, I was afraid in my partial delirium, that 
I was undone forever. 

But Satan still continued to cloud my mind with 
the most frightful and gloomy apprehensions ; and 
dealt out his infernal suggestions with a liberal hand ; 
for he overcame both body and mind, and caused me 
once more to sink into those dreadful agitations and 
convulsions of body, and distress of mind which I had 
before experienced, or, still more distressing than 
any thing before. This caused loud groans, and per- 
haps, strange noises, to break from my lips, while 
every part of my body was most violently agitated. 
And can you believe, O reader, that during all this 
time I had not any bodily pain, to my knowledge, 
O the great kindness of our God I How unsearcha- 
ble are his ways i 

During this period of distress, the family w T ere 
called up, and were much alarmed at my situation. 
This was in the dead of night ; and it appeared to 
me that Satan would immediately tear me in pieces; 
which he seemed to threaten to do ; and I was really 
afraid it would take place before the morning light* 
—My mother standing by my bed-side, it now ap- 
pears to me, was earnest in prayer — she asked me 
if I could pray for myself ? when, I believe, I made 
an attempt to pray. 

But still I was afraid to have my brother leave the 
chamber, for fear I should be torn to pieces in his 
absence. 

And thus I waited in a kind of dreadful expecta- 
tion of the solemn event But when I had waited a 
long time, and experienced no harm, my mind be- 
came more calm ; and Satan's power* for that time, 
was evidently arresied. — O how ought I here at least 
to set up my Ebenezer, and say, Thus far the Lord 
hath helfied me. Can you believe, my friends, that 
some time during this dreadful night, I had again 
been in conversation with my supposed deity, who 
had been declaring to me my lost estate, and making 



45 

out the sentence, that he would pronounce upon me 
at the great day of accounts. He seemed to declare 
to me, and in some measure, made it appear to me 5 
that I was the greatest blasphemer, and the worst 
person that ever lived on the earth : and that I never 
did a good deed in my life. That all that I ever had 
done was through pride, and to procure a higher seat 
in heaven. 

I begged of him to spare me, and believe that 1 
promised to reform ; but he refused, and said, he 
would make an example of me. He seemed to 
bring up the case of Francis Spira, as an instance 
of it. 

But in declaring my eternal misery, he seemed to 
make a mistake : — for he coupled my misery with 
the name of another person ; and upon my inter- 
rupting him, and saying, Did you say, that such an 
one should be miserable ? To which he answered, 
O no, you, you ! — This gave me some little relief, 
for I believe that it now turned in my mind, that it 
might not be the Divine Being. But still my mind 
was clouded, and the adversary, as I suppose, still 
kept up his dismal suggestions. He leld nie. in his 
way, that if I had not done a certain deed, which he 
named, he never should have drove me on, or that I 
never should have been driven on, to commit the 
unpardonable sin. — Upon which I answered, I did it 
because I really thought it was my duty ; and was 
directed to it by God himself. To which he answer- 
ed, you might have known that it was the Devih 
And besides, he seemed to inform me, that when I 
was so attacked in my bed, if I had got up, and got 
my father up, and put him to praying for me, and all 
other christian people* and had exerted myself to the 
utmost ; I might have been kept from committing 
the unpardonable sin : but I had committed it, and 
therefore there was no hope for me. Can you be- 
lieve, my friends, that a person should be so lost, 
under the power and terror of Satan, as to receive all 
this as coming from the Supreme Being ? Thus I 
spent this dreary night, and the next I believe, was 



46 

much like unto it in many respects : for I was filled 
■with gloomy apprehensions, and dismal forebodings ; 
appearances of frightful creatures were brought up 
to the imagination. And, indeed, I may say, that 
Satan wrought more powerfully on the imagination 
this night than ever before. Though I was free from 
those convulsions, yet there was every thing fright- 
ful to the imagination, that Satan could present. And 
from what I have experienced, I believe I can say, 
and that without a doubt, that Satan can bring up to 
men's imagination, any being, or thing that ever came 
within the ken of his knowledge. 

O what a world of counterfeits, can he impose upon 
our defenceless race I — But to proceed with my 
narrative. 

Just about this time, one day, as I was standing in 
the garden, in a pensive mood, clouded with melan- 
choly, and afflicted with the dark suggestions of Sa- 
tan, I considered my state as nearly hopeless, but yet> 
it was my wisdom to prevent as much as possible* 
my more aggravated punishment, as it appeared to 
me that I should never do any thing but sin, and 
blaspheme against God, I determined to shut my 
mouth, lest it should be so. Upon this I seemed to 
find immediate relief; and I may date this as the 
hour of my general deliverance. Although I had 
some sharp assaults after this time, and my mind 
very much clouded, and greatly afflicted at times, 
with heart-risings against God, which I strove against 
with ail my might, which heart-risings I knew were 
injected by Satan ; and had some despairing fore- 
bodings, yet, I trust I had, generally, the leading in- 
fluences of the spirit of God ; and that God was, in 
his infinite mercy, and in the usual course of the 
dispensations of his grace, leading me to the know- 
ledge of the truth as it is in Christ Jesus, And in 
this way convincing me that I had not committed 
the sin unto death : but that all that I had passed 
through in this way, was from the suggestions of Sa«* 
tan, and that I had no kind of agency in them. 

The spirit of God appeared to take the lead of my 



47 

mind, in his ordinary operations, and shew me that 
it was impossible that I had committed that great 
sin. Great calmness of mind, and a filial confidence 
in God, appeared to be gaining the ascendency in my 
soul. I trust that I could go unto God* as a child 
unto his father, who is able and ready to help in even- 
ly time of need. I poured out my heart* as it were, 
into the bosom of my heavenly parent. If I was in 
distress in my mind, I appeared to receive great re* 
lief, in my addresses to the throne of grace. And 
this has always been my resource In my darkest hours, 
and the fountain from which I have immediately re- 
ceived almost all my comfort. I believe I may ven- 
ture to say, that sin now appeared moie odious to me 
than it ever did before. And it seems to me that I 
wished to shun even the appearance of it. My views 
of God, and of the holy and heavenly world, appear- 
ed to me to be great and awfully sublime, at times. 
Sometimes long continued, and somewhat like the 
great first view I mentioned, continuing perhaps an 
hour at a time, while the heavenly world seemed al- 
most to open to my view. And sometimes of shorter 
duration. And at other times transient, leading as a 
point, to the infinitely holy God. And I seemed to 
be almost lost and swallowed up in the infinite ocean 
of his holiness. It appeared to strike me with the 
deepest amazement. These were abstract views of 
God ; that is, having no relation to any subject, mat- 
ter, or thing. Some of the views which I have of 
the heavenly world, are accompanied with great joy, 
and rejoicing to my soul. My views have been as 
great, and as long continued, perhaps, as any ever yet 
heard of, in this age of the church. Now, if these 
are true and real? as I humbly hope they are, what 
an infinite debt of gratitude do I lie under to God ! 

If it is so, to his Name be the praise, and that for- 
ever. I would subjoin, that I humbly hope, that all 
these things are tending to create in my mind, an 
anxious desire for perfect holiness ; and I hope a 
habitual preparation for death. I believe for myself, 
riiat the saint when dying* and going to heaven ? will 



be as quickly, and as naturally struck with the holi- 
ness of God, as the holy seraph, who appeared to 
Isaiah, and will just as naturally cry, Holy, Holy, 
Holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of 
his glory. I would further state, that my assaults 
from Satan, appear to be growing less and less, and 
that I enjoy, generally speaking, with some excep- 
tions, however, great calmness of mind : and as I 
trust an anxious desire for the spiritual welfare of 
mankind. 

And here for the present I finish my narrative. 

Perhaps you will now ask me, What is your mo- 
tive, in publishing this extraordinary narrative ? 

To which I answer, — It was not for my popularity, 
to be sure ; — far from it. Neither was it for profit, 
or worldly gain. But because I had a deep impres- 
sion that it was my duty ; for, as I dreadfully fell 
under the power of Satan's delusions for a long time ; 
and that with perfect innocence, as it related to this 
thing, so far forth as I ever could discern, unless we 
may call indulging immoderate sorrow a sin ; so I 
humbly hope that by the .wonderful and almighty 
power of God, I have been surprisingly rescued from 
these wonderful delusions. And if so, the whole 
world ought to be benefitted by the relation. And 
it is an inclispensible duty that we ©we to our God, 
and the souls of men to make the relation. There 
is no trifling in soul concerns. Now if in any manner 
it is a soul concern, to be apprised of the power of 
Satan, then it follows, that any real information upon 
this subject, is a matter of infinite moment. 

And when we attempt to speak upon the ppwer of 
this great deceiver, O what a labyrinth of woe and 
distress, does it open to our world I How formidable 
are his engines of terrpr and power ! How dreadful 
his machinations to betray and deceive 1 What un- 
numbered millions of devices, does he cast about our 
aouis to ensnare them !-rWhat vollies of subtilties 
to destroy them ; while he casts his mists before all 
our eyes ! Well might the poet exclaim, 4 Great God, 
on what a slender thread, hang everlasting things 



49 

And now if any of us are in possession of any infor- 
mation concerning- this great enemy, can we hesitate 
a moment, whether, or not, that we ought to bring 
it forward for the benefit of souis. And ought we 
not in this case to lay our own repute or disrepute, 
our own popularity, or unpopularity, loss or gain, 
entirely out of the question : and endeavor with all 
our might to benefit our fellow-traveller* to the 
grave. Especially, when we consider that it is high- 
ly probable, that the power of Satan is increasing, 
and will continue so to do, until the period of the 
millennium, and likely, afterwards to the end of the 
world. 

How amazingly interesting must the subject of 
Satan's power be to our world ! And besides, when 
we consider, that it is the opinion of many learned 
and judicious men, that Satan has a mighty power 

and influence over the bodies and minds of men 

that he can make suggestions, cause strong and vio- 
lent impressions, and create voices ; how dangerous 
must the power of Satan appear I And moreover, it 
is the universal opinion among christians, that Satan 
can lay temptations before, and cause suggestions to 
ihe mind, great or small— Now, if he can cause a 
weak suggestion to the mind; why not a stronger 
one, why not a stronger still, until the subject feels 
that he is^ spoken to by an invisible agent in good 
earnest. This he can do, unless you can show°me, 
that it is prohibited, by the word of God. But this 
you cannot do. Therefore it remain* a fact, that Sa- 
tan can do all these things, unless especially restrain- 
ed by the Almighty. If the adversary can do this in 
pne instance, he can do it in all. And therefore it 
is owing to the rich, free, and restraining grace of 
God in Christ, and nothing else, that he does hot' 
constantly visit and afflict us ail in ti is way. But I 
hope I have sufficiently apologized for narrating my 
own dreadful sufferings under the power of Satan, 
together with my hopeful refreshings from the spirit 
of the Lord ; which served to keep me from sinking 
in despair. Methinks I see th,e reader, following me 



50 

through those painful scenes, with a trembling anxi- 
ety ; but I hope that he will receive some comforta- 
ble satisfaction, that I am not abandoned by my God. 

A few words more as an introduction to the work, 
and I have done. 

I have long thought, that more of an abrupt me- 
thod of communicating our ideas, especially in cer- 
tain cases, as, in times of great religious declension, 
and general insensibility in divine things, might be 
rendered more serviceable to the world of mankind, 
than the smooth easy methods cf prose, generally 
made use of by Philosophers and Divines. It has in 
my view, more of an immediate tendency to strike 
the passions, to warm the affections, fix the soul, and 
draw it out towards ihe object of contemplation .« — 
In my view likewise, it is calculated, in the reading, 
more to answer all the purposes of public and pri- 
vate declamation. It arrests the passions, and touch- 
es the feelings of an audience, or of a family, and 
works up the finer sensibilities of the sou), and seems 
to realize the scene as renewed, or then acting. It 
seems to suppose the writer as immediately speaking 
to his audience ; and will ensure a deeper attention, 
—These, then, are the advantages of abrupt writing j 
and for want of an abler hand to undertake, the Au- 
thor has presumed it.— And as when he wrote, or 
composed the following pages, he Was full and al- 
most entire in the belief, that his late dreadful delu- 
sions were caused by the efficient agency of God 
himself, and was calculated not only for his own tern- 
poral and eternal good, but for the like good of his 
fellow immortals. And as Jehovah has seen fit in 
his infinite wisdom, and by the strong arm of his • 
omnipotent power, dreadfully, and gloriously to ar= 
rest the progress of them, and wonderfully to bring 
the subject off from them, and as he trusts, forever, 
So, he views it his indispensible duty, to make this 
solemn relation, and recantation. — And whereas, that 
during these great scenes of delusion, he was in the 
full belief that there could and would be, wonderful 
communications rrmle by God himself, and his hoiy 



51 

intelligences in heaven, and that when, and as often 
as God shall in his holy sovereignty see fit. — And 
that the holy scriptures do fully countenance this 
doctrine ; and that it was not for us, worms of the 
dust, to interfere in these matters, and that these 
communications will probably increase in proportion 
to tfie spiritual light that is shed down on the world, 
and that he was already • highly favored with these 
great and wonderful communications, and that it was 
his duty to propagate them through the world ; and 
that they were calculated to refine the minds, morals 
and conversation of men : and consequently, must 
be a very powerful engine, to introduce and continue 
the millennium state of the church. And whereas 
he now believes, that all this was effected by the 
agency of the great deceiver, he takes this method 
solemnly to declare it to the world. 

Furthermore, since the canon of the holy scrip- 
tures is complete, and comprises all that evidence 
that is requisite for our temporal and eternal inte- 
rest : -so, we are not to look for any further commu- 
nications from God, but only by the ordinary opera* 
tions of his Holy Spirit, in his leading, convicting 
and converting influence. For although the Infinite 
Majesty, as the great Arbiter of the universe, has 
full power and right, and has in no way prohibited 
himself from making these communications, yet, as 
it is not his usual way, and as we ourselves see no 
necessity of it, so, it would be presumption in us to 
expect it. 

And as for the holy beings in heaven, communi- 
cating with us, as to their giving us any information, 
the supposition would be equally absurd. But as to 
the powers of darkness, that are roaming through 
our world, there is not an engine of deception, ter- 
ror, or destruction, within the stretch of their power, 
so far as they are permitted, but what they will abun- 
dantly make use of, to accomplish our ruin. And 
O how formidable they are, whether we consider 
their power or craft ! For if we consider the em- 
phatic expressions; — Roaring Lid n, and Old Serpent^ 



52 

it is enough to put us upon our guard.— -How strong 
likewise, this expression, And no marvel ; for &ata?i 
himself is transformed into an angel of light. Here 
let it be noted, that according to this literal expres- 
sion, he was not transformed merely into the appear- 
ance of an angel of light,— into the semblance of an 
angel of light ; but into an angel of light absolutely. 
Yes, light such as it is. — Yet this light is essentially 
different from a holy light ; and is doubtless the 
same kind of light, that our Saviour mentions, If 
therefore, the light that is in thee be darkness, hoiv 
great is that darkness ! — But still, Satan is an angel 
of light, and O how formidable I when he comes for- 
ward against our defenceless world ; and touches 
with his lucid, hellish rays, upon our benighted race. 
Doubtless he works himself into the highest possi- 
ble appearance of a holy angel of light. And yet, 
he cannot bear one spark of real holiness, any more 
than we can bear the flames of fire. 

But O how refined ought our graces to be, to make 
the distinction ! 

Now is it not probable, that somewhere within the 
precincts of Satan's power and craft, we may find 
the cause of all the wonderful or extraordinary com- 
munications, violent ravings, heated zeal, and here- 
sies of every description, that agitate the world. 

But not to enlarge any further on this head. I 
would just mention that my reasons for quoting so 
largely, the late Dr. Watts, as I have done, in my 
first oration, are, that I view him the greatest, and 
finest writer on the subject, extant ; and I choose to 
publish my sentiments under the patronage of so 
great an author. 

Thus, I have finished mv Introduction 



AN ORATION ON DEATH, &c. 



A. 



^H ! grim messenger ! rightly art thou na- 
med King of Terrors ! Dost thou indeed transmit to 
regions of woe, as well as of bliss ; and open the gates 
of the infernal prison, to receive the poor, guilty, 
trembling fugitive from our earth, and fast lock the ada- 
mantine bars upon him? Dost thou indeed call Dev- 
ils to thine aid ! to make the poor creature more ex- 
quisitely miserable ! How frightful then thy visage ' 
to all the guilty creation ! 

Well may the world of animals shudder at thy ap- 
proach — and tremble at thy appearance ; not only has 
this lower creation felt thy dire effects, but thou hast 
intruded thyself into the provinces of light, and laid 
prostrate some of the sons of the morning; while 
Divine vengeance seized on them, and turned them 
down, hideous shapes of deformity and terror, to that 
world where hope never comes. 

Still thou hast kind offices ; thou dost relieve the 
old time-burdened and sin-burdened saint, and chris- 
tians of all ages, even infants of a day, and discharge 
them at once to the confines of eternal day, where 
holy ministering spirits take them under their con- 
duct, and waft them upwards to glory ! But thy vis- 
age has an awful, frightful, appearance to us, who in- 
habit tenements of clay. 

Whence is it, that Aristotle, the philosopher of 
philosophers, should so bitterly exclaim — that futu- 
rity is uncertain, and death is the most terrible of 
all terribles ? 

Whence is it, that Socrates, another sage of anti- 
quity, when unrighteously condemned by his unjust 
6 * 



M 

judges, should tell them, I must die ; but whether I 
or you have the better, I know not; — thus quaking 
over the future, he took the fatal draught and ieli 
asleep. 

Whence is it — that Plato, another miracle of the 
east, should so pathetically reason concerning the im- 
mortality of the soul ? W as it not that he was forced 
to the reflection, by the dreadful certanty of the death 
of his body. Whence is it — that Seneca, another 
prodigy of erudition, should spin out such an abstract 
life of philosophy, and act over such a world of pa- 
tience and hard-bearing — -were it not for a terrible 
dread of an hereafter. 

Ah ! and do you oppose to me a Cato, the justest 
man in Rome ! — Who voluntarily fell on his own 
. swortl at Utica ; and even when his friends would 
have sewed up his wounds, and have saved his life, 
he violently tore them open — and thus rush'd all 
precipitate on death. 

Then I will tell you of an Antiochus Epiphanes, 
Ptolemy Physcon,— the grand murderer Herod, (Sal*- 
Igula, Maximillian, Philip the second, of Spain, Ma- 
at, Robespierre, and the whole band of horrorists, 
or, in other words, awakened infidels, from the time 
when Cain wickedly stain'd his hands with his broth- 
er Abel's blood. Until Julian, the apostate ; who 
being mortally wounded in battle, outrageously 
prinkled his blood towards heaven, crying out — 
thou hast overcome, O Galilean I and from him up- 
wards through all the annals of time, to the last sel- 
ling sun. The whole group of which, we may with 
' *~he strictest propriety, and an awful emphasis, de- 
nominate the tremblers at death. 

But, say you, there are exceptions, I acknowledge 
it, there are some dreaming theorists, or, mad £a- 
iiaticsj who worn out with this world, think to go in 
est of another. Or stung to death with life, deter- 
mine to make their exit. And not a few of. these, 
have been so filled with hellish benevolence, as to 
take their whole families along with them. Oh ! 
dful ! Horrible to relate ! Poor suicide ! You 



55 

have found ere this, that it is not a cheap thing to 
rush on death. And that death is awfully potent? 
Ave shall soon shew. For how do we measure the 
strength of an earthly monarch, but by the number 
of his forces — the greatness of his armies — his aw- 
ful attendants — his habiliments of war — and appara- 
tus of slaughter. What King has so many frightful 
attendants as the King of Terrors. 

Whence is it — that whole colonies turn pale as the 
marble statue, and moveless as the beam from the 
forest — at the cry of the Plague ! The Plague ! E- 
ruptions — Inundations — Tornadoes- — Volcanoes, and 
Earthquakes, and individuals to that of Billious Cho- 
lics, Chollera Morbus — Quick Consumptions — Inva- 
sions from abroad — Epidemics — and the whole host 
of Hurriers to the tomb — were it not that they have 
terrible apprehensions of death. And, indeed, so 
ghastly is his appearance — that few have had the 
courage, with confidence to meet him ; except those 
of the human species, who were determined to crum- 
ble into their original atoms — cease to be, and be- 
come utterly extinct in the creation ! mistaken 
souls ! 

But a word, concerning the forces of our King — - 
they are not only awfully dreadful ; as they seem to 
march in front of him ; but are wonderfully dispers- 
ed through every portion of the habitable globe, and 
strangely lie in ambush, to attack and destroy, little 
unimportant man. There is not a corps of matter 
in the whole system of nature, but what seems per- 
fectly willing, to contribute to the assistance of death, 
especially as he strikes his darts at us. Poor frail 
man, how attacked— assaulted, and inevitably "over- 
come. For thou canst not withstand a mote of the 
air, when properly directed, from its having fatal ef- 
fects. Then what wilt thou do in the swelling of 
Jordan ? How wilt thou grapple with the King of 
Terrors ; when he musters his whole hosts against 
thee ? Fire, water, sword, earthquaking and sickness 
of every description, wind, thunder and lightning, 
and all the artillery of heaven ! and the whole mine* 



56 

rai, vegetable and animal worlds ; may be rendered 
as poisonous as the Bohan-upas of the south. Show 
me a blood vessel, in the whole animal human ma- 
chine, but what is already impregnated with the bale- 
ful influence, of the King of Terrors ; and is secret- 
ly doing the work of death. While every part of 
matter swarms with his deadly contagion : Frail 
thing ! Fall you must ; come down from your con- 
ceited pinnacle of glory, take your place in the dust, 
and wait his awful approach. Dwell in the shades 
of obscurity for a while, until we see how the brutal 
creation are affected with his measures. 

What ails the bleating and bellowing herds, to run 
almost into convulsions at his approach, and animals 
to shudder and startle at the sound of an hard thijn- 
der-clap. — You shall hear them roar terribiy, at the 
sight of the blood of one of their fellows ; you may 
call it sympathy if you please — Would to God, there 
was more of this among the human species ! It might 
have saved the slaughter of millions of Adam's pos- 
terity. Whence is it — that those animals all take 
their several grades, and the weak tremble in the 
presence of, and are sacrificed by the strong ? And 
this will apply generally to mankind. Then I would 
ask, whence is it, that the poor quaking peasant} so 
wonderfully trembles in the presence of his iron- 
hearted despot, who has the power of life and death 
in his hands ? O horrid ! too much for a worm. 

Whence is it — that this poor despot should trem- 
ble too in his turn, notwithstanding he has thought 
himself invulnerable, at the loud cry of an insurrec- 
tion ? but because he thought himself in danger of 
death, that death which he so truly and justly feared. 
What, murdered by a confidant ? Yes, assassinated 
by one of his dearest friends ; O justly terrible I 
Whence is it— -that the altars of the east and south^ 
have so long smoaked — with sacrifices, and their 
temples teemed with the blood of innocent, helpless 
infants ; to appease the wrath, and stay the venge- 
ance, of the angry gods. By whom is this sacrifice 
made, do you ask ? By the fathers and mothers, and 



SI 

near relatives of the victim, I answer : who take 
these helpless creatures, with a strong hand, and 
wantonly deliver them up to Baal — Ashteroth — Mo- 
lech — Saturn — Jupiter, or some other infernal deity ! 
•—and for no other reason, but to avert an impending 
storm of vengeance, which seems to be hanging over 
their guilty heads ; which is likely in their view, to 
sweep them into death's cold territories :— and thus 
the poor victims fuli by thousands, and by millions, 
by the hands of those who should have been their 
protectors. Whence is it — that such vast multitudes 
are yearly sacrificed to Juggernaut — that black idol 
of hellish policy — and the religion of Satan ? — but to 
screen the guilty heads of their sacrificers from 
death. 

Whence is it — that the black savages of the wil- 
derness, so bitterly howl and lament, at the brisk at- . 
tack of a corps of riflemen — which are terribly hew- 
ing down their files ? But for the fearful apprehen- 
sions of death. 

Whence is it— that so many thousands have been 
sacrificed on the field of battle, or, a day after, to ap- 
pease the manes of some departed worthy, in their 
own estimation—A fierce demon, who they fancy is 
crying for some of the blood of their enemies ? and 
will not be appeased but by the slaughter of many 
captives ; were.it not that death is considered— the 
work of the vengeful gods. 

Whence is it — that the world is so clouded with 
dreary imaginations, frightful aspects, gloomy pros- 
pects, apparitions, horrid spectres, and dreadful fore- 
bodings of the future ? Were it not as evident as the 
light of heaven, that death is awfully terrible to the 
human race. 

Methinks I hear you say, I am disappointed, 1 
thought you would have shown us some of the ter- 
rors of death, in its extent. All that you*have as yet 
exhibited, is the mere pomp and pageantry of death ; 
only his harbingers, or a few of his attendants. We 
expected you would have gone back to the garden of 
Eden, and shewn us how fatally our first parents 



58 

fell from a state of moral rectitude and holiness, and 
awfully incurred the displeasure of the Almighty * 
— when he soon pronounced his curse upon them, 
and drove them out of Paradise ; and set Cherubims 
at the east of the garden, with a flaming sword, which 
turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. 
Now he becomes a dead man indeed ; Temporally — 
Spiritually — and Eternally Dead ! So methinks I 
hear you again say, here is a subject more than suf- 
ficient for you to exhaust your eloquence. I ac- 
knowledge it. And likewise that of Gabriel's, is no 
more than adequate. What ? to show the horrors 
of the second death, and the miseries of sin, and the 
gates of the infernal prison, and the world of woe — - 
and almost that infinite number of roads, that lead 
thither, be it the task of some mighty principality 
and power, rather than mine. 

• Yet, perhaps, it will not be altogether inexpedient , 
to give you a few instances of Death, as effected in 
our world. The first instance we shall name, is, the 
entire destruction of the old world by water. The 
ilames of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities of the 
plain, we shall next notice. More than six hundred 
thousand dead Israelites, who were passing through 
the. wilderness, will now be mentioned. 

The terrible armies of Xerxes, containing more 
than two millions, who fell under death in the course 
of one year, it will now be proper to relate. 

The dreadful destruction of Jerusalem, linger the 
Roman Emperor, wherein two millions of souls per- 
ished, is worthy to have a place here. 

And thus Death has been going on, and making 
his awful ravages, from time to time, and from age 
to age, among the human species : While it seems 
to be his annual stint, to subjugate near thirty mil- 
lions of the human race. 

Pause a moment ! think it over, and pause again ! 
and now say, what security you have against his 
shafts. And O ! how dreadful ! — have we not rea- 
son to fear there are a very great number of those 
handed over to the second death. If so, the infernal 



59 

prison must keep their own records, and dreadfully 
legibly write the science of death. 

Prepare then, O my friends, for your grand exit. 
But I will oppose to the above, a whole host, who 
under their great leader have dared to shake the 
Grim Messenger by the hand, and bid him an hearty 
welcome. The first rark of which have been fre- 
quently known with composure in their countenance, 
a smile on their cheek, and joy beaming in their 
eyes, have been heard exultingly to exclaim, O 
Death, where is thy sting ? then turning to one of 
his principal attendants and concomitants, have as 
of' en exclaimed, O Grave, where is thy victory i 
And even those of the second and third rank, have 
done somethir g like this. 

They are fi equently willingly taken captive by 
him, at his will, and carried' over the swellings of 
Jordan, to the promised land. 

But by this time you will tell me, these are Chris- 
tians. I know they are. Thou hast rightly judged, 
O my friend : for none but Christians can realize 
these blessed scenes.- 

Let me die the death of the righteous ! that my 
last end may be like his. 

But I will soon shew you that death is terrible, in 
some measure, even to these Christians, for he fills 
the whole earth with tremors, and qtiakings, and 
may justly be said to be a universal enemy. 

But remember that this univeisal enemy shall fi- 
nally be destroyed ; though the last that ever shall 
be destroyed, as it respects the righteous. 

The last enemy that shall be dt strayed, is death. 
When a nation has lain for whole ages, under the 
power of some mighty tyrant, and has suffered per- 
petual ravages from his hands, what gladness runs 
through the land at the sure prediction of his ruin I 
and how is every inhabitant pieased, while he hears 
of the approaching downfall of his great enemy 1 
c For this is he that hath slain my , father, or my 
mother, my children, or my dearest relatives, and is 
sfijt making havoc of the remnant of my friends* 



60 

while I myself stand in hourly danger. 5 This plea- 
sure grows up into more perfect joy, when we are 
assured this is the last tyrant that shall arise, the 
last enemy that shall afflict us ; for he shall have no 
successor, and we shall be forever free. 

Such should be the rejoicing of all the saints, 
when they hear so desirable, and so divine a promise 
as the words following, The last enemy that shall be 
destroyed, is death. But it will be necessary to in- 
quire how it is to be destroyed, and what are the 
steps or gradual efforts towards its destruction : and 
then, what are the advantages that the saints receive 
by the destruction of this last enemy. 

It is important for us to know how, or in what 
sense, death appears to be an enemy to good men. 

That it is in general an enemy to human nature, is 
sufficiently evident from its first introduction into 
the world ; for it was brought in as an execution of 
the first threatening given to Adam in Paradise. In 
the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die, 
It came in as a punishment for sin ; and every pun- 
ishment, in some respect opposes our interest and 
our happiness. 

When it seized on man at first, and planted the 
seeds of mortality In his nature, he then began to be 
deprived of that peace and health, that vigor and im- 
mortality, which he possessed before his fall, till at 
last it brought him down to the earth ; and ever since, 
all the sons of Adam have found and felt it an enemy 
to their natures. 

To sinners, indeed, it is an enemy in a more dread- 
ful sense ; and its attendants are more terrible a 
thousand fold For besides all the common miseries 
of the flesh, which they sustain, it delivers over their 
spirits into everlasting misery ; it finishes their re- 
prieve, and their hope forever ; it plunges them at 
once into all the terrors of an awakened conscience? 
and cuts them off, from all the amusements and cares 
of this life, wiiich laid their guilt and their con- 
science asleep for a season. Death consigns over 
a sinner to the chains of the grave, and the chains of 



61 

hell together, and binds and reserves him a prison ei 
of despair, for the most complete torments of the 
second death. 

But I would confine my discourse here only to 
believers, for it is with respect to them this passage 
is written. 1 know Death is often called their friend, 
because it puts an end to their sins and sorrows ; 
but tliis benefit arises only from the covenant of 
grace, which sanctifies it to some good pui poses to 
the children of God. 

It is constrained to become their friend in seme 
instances, contrary to its own nature, and its original 
design. But there is reason enough, if we take a 
survey of its own nature, and its present appearanc- 
es, to call it an enemy still, upon these following ac- 
counts. 

1. Death has generally many terrible attendants* 
and forerunners, when it conies ; terrible to nature, 
and the flesh of the most exalted Christians. 

Here, should I begin to describe the long and dis- 
mal train of death, the time would fail me. Shail I 
mention the sickness and the pain, the sharp anguish 
of the body, and sometimes the sharper methods of 
medicine to relieve it, all which prove useless and 
vain, in that day ? Shall I recount the tedious and un- 
easy hours, the tiresome and sleepless nights, when 
the patient longs for the slow return of the morning ; 
and still, when the light breaks, he finds new unea- 
sinesses, and wishes for the shadow and darkness 
again ? Shall I speak of the dulness of the natural 
spirits, and the clogs that hang heavy upon the soul 
in these hours ; so that the better part of man is 
bound and oppress'd, and shut up, and cannot exert 
itself agreeable to the character of an intellectual 
being ? 

Besides, all the designs of the mind are interrupt- 
ed and broken in death : all that the saint intended 
to do for God, is cut off at once, and his holy pur- 
poses are precluded, which often adds to the ti cubic 
of a dying Christian. When a man returns to his 
earth) in that very day his thoughts perish, 



62 

Shall I put you in mind of the sighs and sorrows 
of dearest friends that stand around the bed all in 
tears, and all despairing ? Shall I speak of the last 
convulsions of nature, the sharp conflict of the ex- 
treme moments, and the struggling and painful ef- 
forts of departing life, which none can know fully 
but those that have felt them ; and none of the dead 
come back to give us an account ? Is it possible for 
us to survey these scenes of misery, and not to be- 
lieve, that the hand of an enemy has been there ? 
The bodies of the saints are the tem/iles of the Holy 
Ghost, and the members of Christ. Death murders 
these bodies, these members of the Lord, and ruins 
these temples to the dust, and may well be called 
their enemy upon this account. 

2. Death acts like an enemy, when it makes a se- 
paration between the soul and ilie body. It divides 
the nature of man in halves, -and tears the two con- 
stituent parts of it asunder. 

Though this becomes an advantage to the soul of 
the saint, through the covenant and appointment of 
grace, yet, to have such an intimate union dissolved 
between flesh and spirit, carries something of terror 
in it ; a<nd there may be an innocent reluctance in 
the nature of the best Christian against such an ene- 
my as this : therefore St. Paul does not directly de- 
sire to be unclothed, but rather to be clothed uJion y 
that mortality might be swallonped ' ufi of life, that is, 
to be translated at once into an immortal state. The 
soul and body have been long acquainted with each 
other, and the soul has performed almost all its ope- 
rations by the use of the senses and the limbs ; it 
sees by the eye, it hears by the ear, it acts by the 
hand, and by the tongue it converses. Now to be 
separated at once from all these, and to be at once 
conveyed into a new strange world, a strange and 
unknown state both of being and action, has some= 
thing in it so surprising, that it is a little frightful to 
the nature of man, even when he is sanctified and 
Sited for heaven. 

And as the soul is dismissed by death into a statf 



63 

of separation, so the body, like a fallen tabernacle, is 
forsaken, lies uninhabited and desolate. Shall I lead 
your thoughts back to the bed where your dear re- 
latives expired, and give you a sight of the dead? 
whose beauty is turning apace into corruption, and 
all the loveliness of countenance fled forever. The 
body, that curious engine of divine workmanship, is 
become a moveless lump : Death sits heavy upon it, 
and the sprightliness and vigor of life is perished in 
every feature and in every limb. Shall we go down 
to the dark chambers of the grave, where each of the 
dead lie in their cold mansions, in beds of darkness 
and death ? The shadows of a long evening are 
stretched over them, the curtains of a deep midnight 
are drawn around them, the worm lies under them 5 
and the worm covers them. 

The holy Saint Paul wish'd his pure heav'nlyclothing 5 
All wrought and made fine by the merits of Christ ; 

And while among seraphs and stars he is moving, 
He considers the same of an infinite price, 

A dear loving partner is smitten with death, 
All fault'ring and groaning is heard for to say, 

I know I must shortly resign up my breath, 
But I hope with kind angels to soon bear away. 

I know that this body must soon sleep and rot, 
And sure must descend to the dark silent tomb ; 

Where the worm and corruption will prey en my 
heart, 
Come down ye blest angels and carry me home. 

But I trust that my body shall arise white and shining^ 
With celestial ardor and beauty shall move ; 

Away from a world that is ever repining, 
On yonder bright hill of ImmanueVs love. 

A saint is no more exempted from all these fright- 
ful attendants of death, than a sinner is. Those eyes 
that haye been perpetually lifted up to the God of 



64 

Jfeaven in prayer, lie closed under ground. That 
tongue that has spoken much for God in the world, 
lies silent in death. Those hands that have minis- 
tered to the necessities of the saints, and those feet 
that have gone often to the house of God, death has 
confined them in his chains. Those natural powers 
that have been active in the service of the gospel, 
can speak, can move, can act no more. But I need 
not recite these things to you, the images of them are 
too fresh and painful, and sit too heavy upon your 
remembrance. 

Death is an enemy to the saint, so far as it hinders 
him from the enjoyment of his perfect heaven ; for 
it keeps one part of him in the grave for many years 
or ages. 

Let us think of the dust of the ancient martyrs? 
the dust of the apostles, and the holy prophets ; let 
us look many ages backward to the dust of David, 
and Abraham, and Noah, to the dust of Adam the 
first of men : How long have their souls waited in 
heaven, as it were in a widowed state ! How long 
has their flesh been mingled with common earth, and 
lain confined under the bands of death, useless toall 
the glorious purposes of their formation, and their 
being ! A tedious extent of time ! four or five thou- 
sand years, wherein they have done nothing for God* 
For death hinders a believer from some of the busU 
ness of heaven, and some of the blessedness of it. 

The prophets and apostles lie buried in dust, 
Beneath under ground since the earth has been curst i 
And there they must lie till the great rising day, 
Till the loud sounding trumpet shall call them away. 

Now rising and shining, all homeward they go, 
Not a grief or a groan , from the regions of woe ; 
As bright as the noon, as clear as the morn, 
Their bodies shall now the bright heavens adorn ! 

ft is only the soul that is first received to glor\ -, 
?n<\ dwells there alone for a season, while death hold? 



65 

the body prisoner in the grave ; it is only the soul 
that glorifies its Maker in that upper world, the world 
of spirits ; for the flesh lies silent in the dust. The 
grave cannot fir aise thee, death cannot celebrate thee, 
O Lord. The body is redeemed with the blood of 
Christ, as well as the soul, but death puts its fetters 
upon it, and forbids it to serve its Redeemer. 

The believer is restrained also by death from some 
of the blessedness of heaven. It is only the soul 
enjoys the delight ; and that too only in its abstract* 
ed nature, and pure intellectual capacity ; it is cut 
off by death from all that rich variety of pleasure 
which rises from its communion with so noble a 
frame as the body of man is. It has no senses to re- 
ceive the satisfaction that arises from the material 
part of heaven ; It has no eyes to behold the glorifi- 
ed flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ ; no ears to hear 
Lis voice ; no tongue to converse with its Saviour. 
And though we are sure there is a holy correspon- 
dence between Christ and separate souls, for we are 
said to be jiresent with the Lord, when we are absent 
from the body, yet this correspondence cannot be so 
complete and glorious, as it shall be, when with our 
eyes we shall see God in the form of a man. 

It is granted, that the separate heaven of souls is 
abundant pleasure beyond what we can now conceive 
or express : and out* friends, departed in the faith, 
enjoy the delightful presence of their Lord, and the 
heavenly converse of their fellow-spirits. 

Those pious departed saints whom we so often 
mourn, dwell with that Jesus with whom they have 
long been acquainted : they converse with him in 
heaven, whom they loved much upon earth ; they 
find themselves safe forever in his hands, to whose 
care they committed their immortal conce-wis ; and 
they rejoice in the sight ,of him above, with whom 
they heid many hours of sweet correspondence by 
faith here below. Doubtless also, they hold sweet 
conversation with the holy souls that went to heaven 
before them. Souls, so greatly desirous of spiritual 
discourse as some of them were, so constantly pre • 



OS 

pared for pious conference, and mutual Qommumca- 
tions of sacred knowledge, must needs enjoy that 
privilege, and that pleasure, in that upper world, 
where there is nothing ail round them, but what is 
holy and divine. 

But it is certain they cannot enjoy that perfection 
of humble society with Christ, in his glorified humair 
nature, nor with fellow-saints, while they are depriv- 
ed or one part of themselves, their bodies lying si- 
leni and moveless in the prison of the grave ; and 
they wait for the more complete satisfaction of all 
their hopes, when death their last enemy, shall be 
destroyed, and their bodies redeemed from the dust, 
together with the bodies of all the saints. 

Death is an enemy to believers, because it divides 
them for a season from the company of their known 
and valuable friends, and parts the dearest relatives 
asjunder. Though dying saints be transmitted into 
better company, even to the spirits of the just made 
ftg'ifccty yet it is a mournful thought to be separated 
so long from those whom they loved with so strong 
and just an affection. 

It adds a sharpness even to the last agonies, when 
we think we must leave parents, children, or friends, 
behind us, whom we love so tenderly ; that we must 
leave them, amidst the sorrows and the temptations 
of a vain world, and a corrupt age; that we must 
leave them struggling with all the difficulties, the 
hardships, and the dangers that attend a Christian in 
his travels through this wilderness, and not see their 
faces again in the flesh, nor converse with them in 
the manner we were wont to do, till the heavens be 
no more. 

Upon this account also, death is a worse enemy to 
those that survive, for they sustain the biggest loss : 
it deprives them of their dear and delightful rela- 
tives without any recompense ; for the world grows 
so much the more undesirable to a saint by the death 
of every friend. Children are tern away from the 
embraces of their parents, and the wife is seized from 
sora. This is, as it were, tearing the flesh 



asunder of those whose hearts are joined; this gives 
occasion to bitter sorrows, to long and heavy com- 
plaints. How suddenly kre we sometimes deprived 
of the desire of the eyes, and the comforts of life, 
the ornaments and the supporters of our earthly 
state ! And we have lost all their love, and their 
counsel, and their care; all their sweet sympathy of 
joys and sorrows, all their agreeable conversation 
and heavenly advice. What a tedious way have we 
to walk through, without such a guide or helper i 

We have lost the benefit of their watchful eye, 
their holy jealousy for our souls, their fervent and 
daily prayers. But there are records in heaven, 
where all the prayers of the saints are kept ; and 
God often turns over his register, and, in distant 
successive years, pours down blessings upon the 
posterity, and multiplies his graces among them, in 
answer to the requests that were offered upon earth 
by the saints that are now with God. 

The last reason I shall mention to prove death an 
enemy to the saints, is the terror that it fills the 
mind with long before hand. There are but few 
that, in their best estate on earth, are got quite above 
these terrors ; and there are none can say 'I have 
bten always free from them :' so that, in the younger 
days of their Christianity at least, all have been afraid 
of death ; and these fears are enemies to our peace. 
Some spend all their lives in this bondage of fear, 
and that upon different accounts. 

A Christian of weaker faith cries out within him- 
self, « How shall I pass that awful moment that sets 
my soul naked before the eyes of a holy God, when 
J know not whether I am clothed with the righteous- 
ness ci his Son or no ? whether I shall stand the test 
in that day? I dread that solemn, that important 
hour, that shall put me into an unchangeable state of 
miseries that are infinite, or of infinite blessedness. 
How shall I, that am a sinner, stand before that tri- 
bunal, and that Judge in whose sight no mortal can 
be innocent? My evidences from heaven are so dark 
wd cloudy, that I cannot read them ; they have been 



68 

often sullied with fresh guilt, and I doubt whether I 
am now born or no, or reconciled to God. And what 
if I should be mistaken in this affair of the greatest 
moment ? The mistake can never be rectified ; there- 
fore I shake at the thought of death, that hour of de- 
cision ; for my faith is weak.' 

all important, infinite concern, 

I fear and temole now to launch away \ 
For fear that I in hell must surely burn, 
In prison ! yet the debt can never pay ! 

Oh ! was my faith as strong as mountains be, 
Then I would stretch my pinions to the skies ; 

My blessed Jesus I would joyful see, 

On heavenly richer gems would fix my eyes. 

Another saint, of a strong and lively faith, but of a 
timorous temper, cries out, ' How shall I bear the 
agonies and the pangs of death ? I am not afraid to 
enter into eternity : the grace of Christ, and his gos- 
pel, have given me hope and courage enough to be 
dead ; but I am still afraid of dying : it is a hard and 
painful work, how shall I sustain the sharp conflict ? 

1 shiver at the thoughts of venturing through that 
cold flood that divides betwixt this wilderness and 
the promised land, 5 

Another Christian is too much unacquainted with 
the world of spirits, with the nature of the separate 
heaven, with the particular business and blessedness 
of holy souls departed ; and he is afraid to venture 
out of this region of flesh and blood, into a vast and 
unknown world. Though he has good hope through 
grace, that he shall arrive safe at heaven ; yet the 
heaveniy country is so unknown a land, and the val- 
ley of entrance to it so dark, that he fears to pass in- 
to it through the shadow of death. 

Another is terrified at the thoughts of death, be- 
cause he knows not how to part with his clear rela- 
tives in the flesh, and to leave them exposed to an 
unkind age and a thousand dangers. * If I had none 



69 

to leave behind me, I could die with cheerfulness ; 
but while I think of such a separation, the thoughts 
of death has terror in it/ 

Thus upon various accounts a good man may have 
fearful apprehensions of dying* ; and that which car- 
ries so much terror about it, may well be called an 
enemy. 

Death, step aside, and let me go, 

Nor fire my flesh, nor tear my heart ; 

I know I'm safe from endless woe, 

And all things else but thy keen dart. 

I'm not afraid now to be dead, 

And go to Jesus 'bove the skies; 
My heart so torn has often bled, 

And thoughts on death has forc'cl my sighs, 

Away cold mansion, far away, 

Oh let me fly without a groan, 
Then I would reach eternal day, f 

And grow and thrive and always bloom. 

And thus he lingers on the brink, 

Through fear to launch away ; 
His faith is weak his spirits sink, 

In view of heav'nly day. 

How can I leave my friends, 

Upon this earthly shore, 
While I to heaven* ascend, 
And never see them mere. 
Oh, bring them home, pray, Father do ! 
And let them come thy praise to shew. 

Here, my friends, a question naturally arises, What 
is the cause of such wide spreading misery, which 
entirely kills the sinner, and almost frightens the 
saint to destruction ? If you wait for an answer ; I 
will briefly teli you — It is Sin. And if Saul slew his 
thousands, and David his ten thousands, how many 



10 

thousands more has this monster slain ? perpetually 
and eternally slain ! For if death be an enemy to the 
best of men in so many respects, then we may infer 
the great evil of sin : for it was sin that brought 
death into this our world : By one man sin entered 
into the world, and death by sin ; and sx> death fias« 
$ed ufion all men, for that all have sinned. 

We are too ready to conceive a slight opinion of 
the evil of sin, because it is so common to the best 
of men, and so constant an attendanc on human na- 
ture daily and hourly ; we entertain too gentle and 
harmless thoughts of it, because its greatest evil is 
of a spiritual kind, and invisible ; we see not that In- 
finite Majesty which it dishonors, that spotless holi- 
ness of God which it offends, the glory and perfec- 
tion of that law which is broken by it : we can take 
Ibut short scanty notices of the injury that it does to 
God, the Supreme Spirit, while we are shut up in 
tabernacles of flesh. But here, in these scenes of 
death, we may survey the sensible and mighty inju- 
ry that sin has done to the nature of man, and thence 
infer how offensive it is to God. By our eyes and 
our ears, we may be terribly convinced, that it is no 
small evil that could occasion such spreading and 
durable mischief. 

We cannot frame a just notion of what man was in 
his state of perfect innocency, in his original beauty, 
and honor, and immortal frame ; and therefore we 
.cannot so well judge of the vastness of the loss which 
we sustain by sin ; but we can see and feel the for- 
midable attendants of death, and learn, and believe, 
that it is a root of unknown poisoned bitterness, that 
has produced such cursed fruit : especially if we re- 
member, that all the sorrows before described, fall 
upon the saints themselves, even where sin is par- 
doned, and death has lost its sting. But if we de- 
scend in contemplation to the endless and unknown 
misery that awaits the death of a sinner, and say, < All 
these are the effect of sin,' how inexpressibly dread- 
ful will the cause appear ! The wise man has pro- 
nounced them fools, by inspiration, that make q 
mock at such mischief 



71 

We may here learn the greatness of the love or 
Chriht, that would venture into the land of death, and 
conflict with this mighty enemy, and yield to ihe 
power of il for a season, for our sakes. Greater love 
hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life 
for his friends. Hereby pier ceive we the love of God, 
because he died for us. 

Many terrible attendants of death, did our Lord 
meet and struggle with, beyond what any of his 
saints can feel. Death, like a lion, ran furious upon 
him, as it does upon a sinner, its proper prey. He 
met death in its full strength and dominion ; for he 
had all our sins upon him : and death had its own 
sharp sting, when our Lord entered the combat, 
[There was the wrath of God, which was threatened 
in the broken law, to mingle with his pangs, and 
agonies of nature : This made his soul exceeding sor- 
rowful ; all his inward {lowers were amazed, and his 
heart oppressed with heaviness. He was almost 
overwhelmed in the garden, before the thorns, or 
the nails came near him ; and on the cross he com- 
plains of the forsakings of God his Almighty Friend, 
when death his mighty enemy was just upon him ; 
and all this (saith he to every believei) I 6 ore for 
thy sake : My love was stronger than death. 

Cheer up, ye sons of Zion ! shout and sing for 
joy . Look this great enemy full in the face ! rest- 
ing assured that by the blood of the Lamb,— you will 
finally vanquish him !— and eternally triumph ! Yi s, 
immortol victory is yours ! for death your last ene- 
my shall certainly be destroyed ! 

It is the last enemy that saints have to grapple 
with in this world. The three great adversaries of 
a Christian are, the flesh, the world, and the devil, 
ancUhey assault him often in this life. Death comes 
behind, and brings up the rear ; the saint combats 
with this enemy, and finishes all the war. 

Every believer has 'listed himself under the ban- 
l\ ei ; ° f ? h " st » who is the Captain of his salvation. 
W hen he first gives himself up to the Lord, he re- 
nounces every thing that is inconsistent >vith his 



72 

faith and hope ; he abandons his former slavery, ta^ 
dertakes the spiritual warfare, and enters the field 
of battle. 

It is a necessary character of the followers of 
Christ, that they fight with the flesh, subdue corrupt 
nature, suppress their irregular appetites, give daily 
wounds to the body of sin. They fight against this 
world ; they refuse to comply with the temptations 
of it, when it would allure them astray from the path 
of duty ; they defy its frowns and discouragements, 
and break through all its oppositions, in their Way to 
heaven. 

They resist Satan, when he tempts them to sin, 
and vanquish him by the sword of the Spirit ; 
the word of God ; and when he accuses them, and 
attempts to bring terror into their souls, they over- 
come him, and cast him down by the blood of the Lamb. 
They are made conquerors over these adversaries 
in the strength of Christ. Now the pangs of death 
are the last troublers of their peace, death is the 
last enemy that attacks them, and some have very 
terrible conflicts with it. 

It is in these agonies, in these sharp contentions, 
the words above mentioned are frequently uttered 
by these honored saints, whose memory will be al- 
ways precious, and whose loss we deeply deplore ; 
this cheerful language of hope, among many other 
scriptures, breaks out from their lips ; thus lively is 
their faith in a dying hour 1 Methinks I hear them 
speaking these words with a firm trust in the pro- 
mise. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is 
de'ath : and this encouraged them onward through 
the few remaining struggles of life and pain. It is 
as if they had said, I have given up myself long ago 
to Christ, I engaged myself young in his service, I 
have fought with sin, I have learned to subdue flesh 
and sense, and to live by the faith of the Son of God : 
I have not courted the flatteries of the world, the 
vain shews of life ; and I have been enabled to de- 
spise the frowns of it, and been kept stedfast in my 
profession, in the most discouraging and the darkest 



73 

times. Through the grace of Christ I have ©ver* 
come the evil one ; there remains but one enemy 
more, whose name is Death j and I trust in the same 
grace still to obtain a complete victory. 

R-ejoice, ye friends and relatives of such deceased 
Christians ; their names are now written clown in 
heaven, amongst the overcomers ! 

Death may be called the last enemy, because it is 
not utterly dsstroyed till the resurrection, till Christ 
hath done all his work upon earth, till he has subdu- 
ed all his other adversaries, and made use of dtath 
as his slave, to destroy many of them. It is in this 
sense, especially, that the words of St. Paul are writ- 
ten. Then cometh the end, when he shall have deliv- 
crcd up, the kingdom to God, even the Father ; when 
hb shall have put down all rule, and all authority, 
and all (tower ; for he must reign till he hath put. all 
enemies under his Jet t. The last enemy that shall be 
destroyed, is death. 

With regard to each particular Christian, all other 
enemies are destroyed when he dies ; for whither he 
goes, they cannot come : he puis off the body of 
flesh and of sin together ; he leaves every corrup- 
tion behind him, when he ascends to the company of 
the spirits of the just made perfect. The smiles srfTd 
the frowns of this vain and vexing world, are too far 
off to influence the inhabitants of heaven ; and Satan, 
the tempter and accuser, is forever forbid entrance 
at the gates of that holy city. But death holds one 
part of the saint in his prison, the grave : and though 
the departed soul has overcome the terrors of this 
enemy, and triumphs in this expression, O death, 
where is thy sting ? yet the body is confined as a 
prisoner under his power : But the- hour is coming^ 
when those that are dead shall hear the voice of the 
Soil of God, and live. All the prisons of the saints 
shall be broke to pieces, and burnt up, and the keep- 
er destroyed forever. 

What abundant encouragement may we derive 
from hence, to engage us betimes in a war with all 
the other enemies of our salvation, that having over- 
8 



74 

come them, we may be assured death is the last e%- 
cmij we shall meet with ; and then also we may face 
death with a braver courage, may conflict with it with 
better success, may vanquish it by a lively faith, and 
rejoice in the prospect of its final destruction ! The 
same armour of God, the same divine weapons, and 
the same Almighty assistances, by which we have 
subdued our former adversaries, Sin, Satan, and the 
World, shall be sufficient to gain this conquest too. 
We cannot begin the holy warfare too soon ; none of 
us are too young to be assaulted by death : but let it 
come ever so early in the morning of our days, it is 
the last enemy that we can fear, if we are 'listed in 
the army of Christ, and have begun the glorious 
war. 

I would address myself to the youthful relatives 
of pious deceased people, who have gone before them 
into the invisible world ; and say, Have ye had such 
noble examples of victory over sin and death in vain ? 
Will ye basely submit to the slavery of the flesh, and 
yield tamely to the oppositions of this world, which 
were so bravely resisted by those who are gone be- 
fore you ? Will ye love this world, which is at enmity 
with God, and has ever been at enmity with all the 
saints ? Are ye content to have your names forever 
excluded from that honorable list of conquerors, 
where the names of your ancestors shine before the 
throne of God, and are recorded with honor in the 
memory of his churches ? Think how dreadful a 
moment that will be, when you shall look death in 
the face, if ye have not begun to wage war with sin 
and Satan before. 

How dreadful to have many enemies at once as- 
saulting you ! the lusts of your own heart, — raging 
desires after the enjoyments of this world, — the hor- 
rors of conscience,- — the bufferings of the devil, and 
the pangs of death I What will ye do in the day of 
such a visitation ? And rewembcr^ih^X. though death 
be the last enemy of the saints^ it is not thus with 
sinners ; it does but transmit them into the world 
pi damned spirits, where enemies multiply upoi\ 



75 

ihtm, and grow more outrageous. Besides the bit- 
ter anguish of their own conscience, they have the 
wrath of God whom they have long provoked, and 
the malice of evil angels, their tormentors, to con&ict 
with to all eternity ! 

Consider what divine comfort there is, in the holy 
scriptures of truth, for aged Christians, and dying 
saints, who have been watchful and vigorous in their 
war with sin, and gained many victories ovex this 
world, and Satan, who is called the god of it i What 
a delightful view such persons have, when upon the 
borders of life ! Bear up with divine boldness, ye 
heirs of glory, for you have but one adversary more 
to fight with ! Let your faith, and patience, and huly 
courage, hold out a little longer, and victory and 
triumph are yours forever i There is no enemy 
lies in ambush behind the tomb ; when you have 
passed the bars of death, you are out of the reach of 
all adversaries. Beyond the grave, the coast is ail 
clear forever : The country flows with rich and un- 
tasted pleasures ; every inhabitant is an inward friend, 
and peace, and joy, and love smile in every counte- 
nance. 

Will an old saint complain, that he finds many in- 
' firmitus attend his age, that his senses are feeble, 
that his eyes are dim, that Satan now and then arises 
from heil, and casts a gloom and darkness around 
his soul, and buffets him sorely in that darkness ? 
Will he compiain, that his natural spirits are heavy, 
that the world is troublesome to him, and every thing 
in Life painful ? Methinks it is a consolation equal to 
all these sorrows, that he is just entering into the 
last field of battle : the last hour of controversy is 
begun ; a few strokes more will decide the strife, 
and make him an eternal conqueror. Behold I come 
quickly, saith our Lord : hold fast that which thou 
hast [gained]], that no man take thy crown. 

We are now to inquire, How death is destroyed ; 
and what are the steps or gradual efforts, towards 
its destruction. 

The person that has this honor put upon him, to 



76 

subdue this universal tyrant, is our Lord Jesos 
Christ : though his mediation for sinners was suffi- 
cient to have prevailed with God to destroy death at 
©nee, yet, it was agreed upon in the eternal councils, 
that for wise ends and purposes, it should be 
done by degrees. His blood was of sufficient valu«e 
to have procured for his elect, a deliverance from 
every enemy at once, and a translation to heaven as 
soon as they were born ; hut it was wisely concerted 
betwixt the Father and the Son, that we should pass 
through temptations, difficulties, and death itself; 
that by feeling the sharp assaults of our enemies, we 
might be better acquainted with the greatne.ss of our 
salvation, and pay a larger tribute of thanks and ho- 
nors to our Deliverer. 

The steps whereby death is destroyed, are these t 
1. It is subdued by the death of Christ ; its sting 
was then taken away ; that is, the guilt of sin. The 
sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the 
laiv : but thanks be to God who givethus the victory* 
through our JLord Jesus Christ, 

Death was the punishment threatened by the law 
for sin ; but Christ, as our surety, having sustained 
the execution of that threatening, and answered the 
law by a satisfaction equal to the offence, death has 
no more power over him : God has raised him ufi % 
having loosed the pains of deaths because it was not 
possible that he should be holden of it. And as 
Christ, by his dying, is said to finish transgression, 
and malce an end of sin, because he has taken away 
its power to condemn believers, though he has not 
yet utterly destroyed its being ; so he is said to have 
abolished death, because he has so far diminished and 
made void his power, that it shall not do any final 
mischief to the saints. It is like a serpent, whose 
sting is taken away, and whose teeth are broken out t 
it may fright us, and do us some injury, but it can- 
not inflict a venomous or fatal wound. Now the be- 
liever, by a lively faith, shares in this victory of 
Christ over death, and gives thanks to God for it.«^ 
He knows that though it may hurt his body, and 



77 

bring it down to the grave for a season, yet it cannot 
send the soul to destruction, nor confine the body to 
the dust, any longer than Christ shall permit. 

2. Death is taken captive and enslaved by Christ, 
at his resurrection and ascension, and made to serve 
his holy purposes. Thou hast ascended on high, thou, 
hast led captivity cafitive. This is spoken of our 
Lord Jesus, who has taken into his own dominion 
death and the devil, who led the world captive. The 
enemy is not escaped out of ths hands of this con- 
queror, but is put under his yoke, and constrained 
into his service. 

Death, in its first character, was the very threat- 
ening and curse of the law of God, and includes in 
it all misery : but Christ having borne the curse, 
hath redeemed his people from it. And now he has 
taken as many as he pleases of the threatenings and 
terrors of the law into his own new covenant, the 
covenant of grace ; and has sanctified their nature, 
and made them become blessings to the saint : He 
has turned the curse into a blessing, so that afflictions, 
and pains, and sorrows, and death itself, are no long- 
er a curse to them ; for they are ordained by the 
wisdom and grace of Christ to promote their best 
interest. 

Death, in its original design, was the under-ser- 
vant of God's avenging justice. It was the jailor to 
bring the soul out of the body before the divine tri- 
bunal, there to receive its condemnation to hell. It 
was the executioner both to torment and to destroy 
the flesh, and to send the spirit into everlasting mi- 
sery. 

I3ut Christ having answered all the demands of 
this avenging justice, has also purchased the sove- 
reignty over death ; and though sometimes, when it 
seizes a saint, it may for the present signify his dis- 
pleasure, yet it always fulfils the designs oi: his love ? 
and conveys them into his own delightful presence: 
therefore, as soon as we are absent from the body, 
we are said to be present with the Lord ; and when 
we depart from the fksh, it is to be with Christ, 



78 

Death was ordained at first to be a slave to Satan.*-* r 
By ihe righteous appointment of God, both death 
and the devil, are executioners of his wrath ; and 
Satan is said to have some power over death. But 
Christ, by dying, has subdued Satan, spoiled him of 
his destroying weapons, has made void his authority, 
especially with regard to believers ; he has taken 
death out of his power, and manages it himself: and 
thus he delivers them who through fear of death were 
held in a long and painful bondage. 

It is in such views as these that the apostle says 
to the Corinthian believers,^// these things are yours, 
things present^ and things to come, this world in the 
joys or sorrows of it, life and death, all are yours, 
and ye are Christ's, You have an interest and a share 
in the possessions and the power of Christ over all 
things, so far as may promote your happiness : Christ 
makes all things, even death itself, work together 
for the good of his people. By death he puts an end 
to the body of sin and frees the soul from all those 
ruttling passions, those inquietudes of the blood, and 
disorders of nature ; those strong and perverse ap- 
petites that cost the Christian so much toil to sub- 
due, and brought him so often under guilt, darkness 
and sorrow. 

Ey death he delivers the believer from the pains 
and infirmities of the. body, the perpetual languish- 
ing^ of a weakly constitution, and the anguish of 
acute diseases. He constrains death to give the 
weary saint release from all the miseries of the pre- 
sent state, and to hide him from the fury of the op- 
pressor. The grave is God's hiding place from the 
storms and tumults of the world ; there the weary 
are at rest,, and the wicked cease from troubling r 
and, instead of consigning us over to the full malice 
of the devil, death is made a means to convey us 
away from all his assaults, and translate us into that 
country where he has no power to enter. And when 
the soul is dismissed into the bosom of a reconciled 
God by the ministry of death, the body is put to rest 
in the grave j the grave, which is sanctified into v 



79 

bed of rest for all the followers of Christ, since their 
Lord and Master has lain there. 

In the gospel of Christ, the name of death is alter- 
ed into sleep. Christ, who has subdued it, seems to 
have given it this new name, that it might not have 
a frightful sound in the ears of his beloved. Though 
it was sometimes called sleep in the Old Testament, 
yet that chiefly regarded the silence, and darkness, 
and inactivity of that state ; whereas in the New Tes- 
tament, and in the 12th of Daniel, it is called sleep, 
to denote that there is an awaking time. The ancient 
.Christians, upon this account, called the church-yard 
where they buried the dead, a sleeping -place. And 
though the grave may be termed the prison of death, 
yet death is not lord of the prison : he can detain 
the captives there but during the pleasure of Christ ; 
for he who is alive for evermore, has the keys of 
death and hell ; that is, of the separate state. Now, 
this is the true reason why Christians have spoken 
so many kind things of death, which is the king, of 
terrors to a natural man. They call it a release from 
pain and sin, a messenger of peace, the desired hour, 
and the happy moment. All this is spoken while 
they behold it with an eye of faith in the hands of 
Christ, who has subdued it to himself, and constrain- 
ed it to serve the designs of his love to them. 

3. When it has done all Christ's work, it shall be 
utterly destroyed. After the resurrection, thfcre 
shall be no more dying. The saints shall rise im- 
mortal, and dwell in heaven forever, in the complete 
enjoyment of all that is included in the name of life. 
As the angel in prophecy lifts up his hand, and swears 
by him that lives forever and ever, that time shall be 
?io longer, so Christ Jesus, the Lord of angels, shall, 
as it were pronounce with a sovereign voice, that 
death shall be no more. He shall send the great 
archangel with the trumpet of God ; it shall sound 
through the deepest caverns of the grave, and shall 
summon death from its inmost recesses. The tyrant 
shall hear, and obey, and restore all his captives out 
0f prison : The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of 



§G 

God, and live. They that have done good, to the re* 
surrection of life ; and they that have done evil, to 
the resurrection of da?nnation. After this our Lord 
has no employment for death, his slave ; the bodies 
of men shall die no mqre ; there shall be no more 
any state of separation between the flesh and spirit : 
And death and hell [or Hades] were cast into the lake 
C J \fire 3 that is, there shall be no more death, no 
grave, no separate state of souls ; all these shall be 
forever destroyed. 

We may infer from this, the great power and glo- 
ry of our Lord Jesus Christ : we may learn the ho- 
nor that is due to him from mortals : it is he that 
has subdued death, and that by his own dying. A 
wonderous method of victory 1 , a surprising conquest I 
and he lives forever to destroy it in his appointed 
time. How great and honorable must he be in the 
eyes of all mankind, who has vanquished so univer- 
sal a conqueror ! Iio^w desirable is his person, and 
how delightful the sound of his name to every be- 
liever ! for he suppresses all their enemies, and shall 
destroy them even to the last. How well does he 
fulfil the great engagement ! I %vill ransom them 
from the power of the grave : I will redeem them 
from death : death, I will be thy jilagu.es ; O 
grave, I will be thy destruction ; repentance shall be 
hid from mine eyes. Let us salute him The Prince 
of Life, and adore him under that character. He 
dispossesses death of all its dominions. He approves 
himself a complete Saviour of all his saints, and a 
Redeemer of his captive friends. 

We may learn also, the power and excellency of 
the gospel of Christ : for it discovers to us how this 
great enemy is vanquished, and when it shall be de- 
stroyed ; and thus it lays a foundation for courage at 
death, and gives us assurance of a joyful rising day. 
Death being abolished by the mediation of Christ, 
Immortality and life are brought to light by his gos- 
/iel .-that is, there is a brighter discovery of the future 
state, and of everlasting happiness, thvtn ever before 
was given to the world. 



81 

Here, in the name of Christ, and of his gospel, we 
may give a challenge to all other religions, and say* 
Which of them has borne up the spirit of man so 
high above the fears of death as this has done 1 or 
has given us so fair, so rational, and so divine an ac- 
count, how death has been overcome by one man, 
and how, by faith in his name, we may all be made 
overcomers ? How vain are the trifles with which 
the Heathen priests, and their prophets, amused the 
credulous multitude ! What silly and insipid fables 
do they tell us, of souls passing over in a ferryboat 
to the other world, and describe the fields of pleasure* 
and the prisons of pain, in that country of ghosts and 
shadows, in so ridiculous a manner, that the wise 
men of their own nations despised the romance, and 
few were stupid enough to believe all. If we con- 
sult the religion of their philosophers, they give us 
but a poor, lame, and miserable account of the state 
after death. Some of them denied it utterly, and 
others rave at random in mere conjectures, and float 
in endless uncertainties. The courage which some 
of their heroes professed at the point of death, was 
rather a stubborn indolence, than a rational and well- 
founded valor ; and not many arrived at this hardi- 
ness of mind, except those that supposed their ex- 
istence ended with their life, and thought they should 
be dissolved into their first atoms. -If we search in« 
to the religion of the Jews, which was a scheme of 
God's own contrivance and revelation to men, we 
find the affairs of a future world lay much in the 
dark ; their consciences were not so thoroughly 
purged from the guilt of sin, but that some terrors 
hung about them ; and having so faint and obscure 
notices of the separate state of souls, and of the re- 
surrection, these were the persons who, in a special 
manner, through the fear of cleat /z, were all their life 
time subject to bondage* 

But Christianity lays a fair and rational foundation 
for our confidence and triumph in the dying hour, 
It shews how guilt is removed by an all-sufficient 
sacrifice 5 and makes it evident, that no hell) no ven. : 



82 

§eanee>no shadows of misery > await the believer im 
that invisible wond. This makes the Christian ven- 
ture into it with a certain boldness, and a becoming 
presence of mind. The doctrine of Christ shews us, 
how the sting of death is taken away, and calls us to 
iight with a vanquished enemy, a serpent without a 
sting ; it gives us assurance, that we shall rise again 
from the dust, with bodies fresher and fairer, glori- 
ous in their frame, and their constitution immortal : 
for death shall be no more. Exalted by so sublime 
a hope, what is there in death sufficient to depress 
our spirits, if our faith were but equal to this admi- 
rable doctrine I The holy apostles are witnesses, the 
noble army of martyrs are witnesses, and many a 
Saint in our day is a witness to this truth, and gives 
honor to this gospel. How many thousands, have 
met death, and ali itsfiightfui attendants, with a 
steady soul, and a serene countenance, and have de- 
parted to heaven with songs of praise upon their 
lips, a smile upon their face, and triumph in their 
eyes I And this was not owing to any extravagant 
flights of enthusiasm, nor the £res of an inflamed 
fancy, but it has been performed often, and may be 
done daiiy, by the foice of a regular faith, on the 
most solid and reasonable principles ; for such are 
the principles of the gospel of Christ. 

What an astonishing advantage does a well settled, 
well grounded faith m cur Lord Jesus Christ, give 
his real disciples over death, that great King of Ter- 
rors ! — beyond what the disciples of a Plato, or a 
Demosthenes had, or ever could have, over the same ? 
—Yes, it is by the Prince of Peace, — that all the a- 
mazing conquests are obtained over death, and ali 
the dire horrors of the infernal world. Ten thousand 
thanks be given to Christ, the Lord's anointed ! Let 
heaven and earth ring with eternal anthems to his 
name. How suitable to make some inquiry into the 
advantages that the saints will receive, at the de* 
struction of this last enemy. 

This is a large and endless field ; for it includes 
a great part of the happiness ©f the final heaven. 



83 

But I shall only attempt to mention briefly, a few of 
the benefits that are derived by this means to the 
saints. 

When death is destroyed, we shall share in the 
joy and triumph of Christ for absolute conquest over 
all his enemies ; for there is scarcely any glory giv- 
en to Christ, considered as man, but the saints are 
said to be humble partners in it, or at least to enjoy 
the resemblance. Is he appointed the Judge of ail ? 
it is promised also to the saints, that they shall judge 
angels, and the twelve tribes of Israel. — Do we suf- 
fer with him ? we shall also reign with him. If we 
conquer death by faith, we shall rise and triumph. 
Here we labor and fight with many adversaries, and 
we think we have routed them ; but they rally again, 
and give us fresh vexation : so that we hardly know 
how to attempt a song of victory on this side the 
grave. Besides, death still remains for our trial and 
conflict : but there we shall rejoice over all our ene- 
mies, subdued, destroyed, and abolished forever. 

God will manage the affairs of his heavenly king- 
dom in a more immediate way, than he has managed 
his kingdom on earth. Christ, having destroyed ail 
the enemies of his church, and presented it safe be- 
fore the Father, has finished all those divine purposes 
for wh ch the mediatorial kingdom was intrusted 
with him : then he shall resign his commission to 
the Father again ; and the ever-blessed God shall in 
a more immediate and absolute manner reign over 
all the creation. He shall more immediately im- 
press devils and damned spirits with a sense of infi- 
nite wrath ; and with a more immediate sense of his 
love and eternal favor shall he forever bless all the 
inhabitants of heaven. This seems to be implied in 
the words of the apostle Paul. But it is impossible 
that in this state we should know either the full ex- 
tent, or the just limitations, of that promise, God 
shall be all in all. 

Another consequence of the destruction of death, 
is the employment of all the powers of human na- 
ture in the service of God, and they shall be- neither 



84 

weak nor weary. For all the inconveniences thar 
attend mortality shall be swallowed up, and lost for- 
ever. 

Alas, how poor and imperfect is the service which 
our bodies yield to God in this world ! How heavilv 
do our souls complain of the clog of this flesh, and 
move on heavily in the discharge of duty ! and in the 
grave the body is quite cutoff from all service. But 
when death shall be dispossessed, when we shall a- 
rise from the dust, and put on bodies of elory ; then, 
with our wholenatures, and with all their powers, we 
shall do honor to God, our Creator, our Redeemer, 
and our King. 

The time will come when we shall hunger no more, 
neuher thirst any more ; and the refreshments of 
sleep shall be no more necessary to support life. 
Wnen death shall be destroyed, sleep, the image and 
picture of death, shall be destroyed too. There 
shall be nothing that looks like death in all that vital 
world, that world of immortality. We shall serve the 
Lord day and night in his temple ; that is, continual- 
ly? for there shall be no night there. 

Then we shall taste all the true blessedness that 
human nature is capable of, and that without danger 
of excess or «in. When God first united these two 
pieces ol his workmanship, the soul and body, and 
composed a man, he designed him the subject of va- 
rious pleasures, wherein each part should have been 
subservient to the other, to render the felicity of the 
creature perfect. It is sin and death that have en- 
tered into our natures, and prevented this noble de- 
sign in our present state ; but the counsel of the 
Lord shall stand. And when he raises up the body 
from the grave, it shall leave all the seeds of death 
behind it. The faculties and the senses shall awake 
in all their original sprightliness and vigor ; and our 
future heaven shall be furnished with objects suited 
to entertain those powers, and to convey intense 
pleasure to glorified minds, without danger of satiety 
or weariness W~hen the time comes that there shall 
fie no more deaths God shall wipe avjay all tears frov 



85 

*>ur eyes : there shall be no sorrow nor crying, nor 
any more pain ; for the former things are passed 
away ; and he that sits upon the throne shall say> 
Behold, I make all things new ! 

Then shall we enjoy the constant society of our 
Lest friends, and dearest acquaintance ; those that 
have arrived at the new Jerusalem themselves, and 
have assisted us in our travels thither. And we 
shall delightfully entertain, and be entertained, with 
the mutual narratives of divine grace, and the wise 
and holy methods of providence, whereby we have 
been conducted safe through the fatigues and dan- 
gers of the wilderness, to that heavenly country. 

And that which shall add an unknown relish to all 
the former blessings, is the full assurance that we 
shall possess them forever. For every one of our 
enemies are then destroyed, and the last of them is 
death. Here on earth it is a perpetual pain to the 
mind to think, that those whom we love are mortal ; 
the next moment may divide them from us, far as the 
distance of two worlds. They are seized on a sud- 
den from our eyes, and from our embraces ; and this 
thought allays the delight that we take in their com- 
pany, and diminishes the joy : but in that world all 
our friends are immortal, we shall ever be ntith the 
Lord, ana" ever with one another too. 

What a dreadful and overwhelming thought it is, 
to suppose that any of those honored and numerous 
households, should be divided asunder at the last 
day, a part of whom are already now in heaven. 
Give all diligence then, m V friends, to make your 
calling and your election sure. Devote yourselves 
to the God of your predecessors ; trust in the same 
Saviour, tread in the same paths of holiness, and pur- 
sue the same glory. What a joy will it be to your 
deceased godly relatives now in heaven, to know 
that you are coming to join them, and to sing with 
tliem the song of Moses and the Lamb. That these 
that were dear to them as their own souls, have 
overcome sin and death, and in a blessed succession 
arrive at the same heaven. Let me intreat you to 



86 

give them this satisfaction, and not disappoint their 
prayers and their hopes. 

Let the dear partners of all your joys and sorrows, 
and pains, behold the power of religion appearing 
and reigning in all your 'hearts, before your eyes are 
closed in death. Give all of them this consolation 
at the appearance of Christ, that they may say, Lord 
here we are, and those whom thou hast graciously 
given us. Here we are, with our ancestors, and our 
offspring, and our kindred around us, adoring thy 
rich grace together, and entering together into the 
state of perfect glory which thou hast prepared. 

Shall death, with all its attendants, be destroyed 
forever ? and are these the blessings that shall suc- 
ceed ? then enter into this joy beforehand, by a live- 
ly faith, and begin the song of triumph, — O deaths 
where is thy sting" ? O grave, where is thy victory ? 
Jiejoice not over me, O mine enemy, when I fall I 
shall arise. 

After you have fought many battles with Satan, 
subdued many sins, and encountered a thousand 
temptations with success, perhaps you find new ad- 
versaries still arising. Look forward then to this 
joyful hour, and say, But I shall one day be forever 
free from all those toils and labors of war ; for all 
my enemies shall be overcome, since death, the last 
of them, shall be subdued. 

When you feel the infirmities of this mortal body 
hang heavy upon your spirits, and damp your devo- 
tion, read the words of this promise, and rejoice : 
These pains, and these langours of nature, shall one 
day vanish, and be no more ; for death with all its 
train, must be destroyed. 

When some of your dearest friends are seized by 
this tyrant, and led away to the grave in his chains, 
while you are wounded to the very soul, remember 
that Christ your Captain, and your Saviour, shall re- 
venge this quarrel upon your last enemy ; for he 
has appointed the hour of his destruction. Mourn 
not, therefore, for the dead, as those that sorrow 
without hope $ for those that sleep in Jesus, the Lord 



87 

shall bring with him, when he comes. And he shall 
join you together in a blessed and durable friend- 
ship, where it shall be eternally impossible for ene- 
mies to break in upon your peace ; for death, the 
last of them, shall then be destroyed. And as the 
Lord has left us this comfort in the end of his sacred 
writing, Surely I come quickly, let each of us, with 
a cheerful heart, reply, Even so come, Lord Jesus. 

Come then let our meditations take their rise from 
those words of the great Apostle, The spirits of just 
men made perfect. It is a much sweeter employ- 
ment to trace the souls of our departed friends, imp 
those upper and brighter regions, than to be ever 
dwelling upon the dark prospect, and fixing our eyes 
upon death, and dust, and the grave ; and that not 
only because it gives us a comfortable view of the 
persons whom we mourn, and thus it relieves our 
most weighty and smarting sorrows, but because it 
leads us to consider our own best interest, and our 
highest hopes, and puts us in mind of the commu- 
nion that we have with those blessed spirits in hea- 
ven, while we belong to the church on earth. We 
are come, says the apostle. We, in the gospel state 
are come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, 
to the innumerable company of angels, and to the 
spirits of just men made perfect. What sort of com- 
munion it is that good men here below maintain with 
those exalted spirits, is not my present business to 
describe ; therefore I apply myself immediately to 
the words of scripture under consideration. And 
here I shall consider these four things : 

1. Who are particularly designed by the spirits of 
the just. And here I shall make it evident the apos- 
tle intends, not merely the spirits of good men, but 
such good spirits as are dismissed from their mortal 
bodies. 

2. We shall inquire, wherein consists the perfec- 
tion to which they have arrived, and what are the 
excellencies in which they are made perfect. 

3. What sort of perfection it is they enjoy, and 
what are the peculiar characters of it. 



4. How they arrive at this perfect state, and what 
influence the dismission from their bodies has to* 
wards their attainment of it. 

And then conclude with a few remarks for our in- 
struction and practice. 

Our first inquiry is, Whom are we to understand 
by the spirits of the just here spoken of? 

The name of just or righteous men, taken in a 
large and general sense, as it is often used in scrip- 
ture, signifies all those who fear and love God, and 
are accented of him. — In the New Testament they 
are frequently called saints, believers, or children of 
God : but in both parts of the Bible they are often 
described by the name of just or righteous ; and they 
are properly called so upon these three accounts : 

1. Their persons are made righteous in the sight 
of God, having their sins forgiven, and their souls 
justified, through the death and righteousness of 
Jesus Christ. So the word is used. By the obedi- 
ence of one shall many be made righteous.— They 
have seen themselves all guilty, and exposed to the 
Avrath of God ; they have fled to lay hold on the hope 
set before them ; they have mourned before God, 
and been weary of sin ; they have received the great 
atonement ; they have committed their case, by a 
living faith, to Jesus the righteous, the Surety and 
the Saviour of perishing sinners ; and that God hath 
received them into his favor, and has imputed righ- 
teousness to them, even that God who is just, and 
the justifer of them that believe in Jesus Now this 
sense cannot reasonably be excluded from the cha- 
racter of a saint, though the word righteous is more 
frequently taken in the following senses. 
■ 2. Their natures are made righteous, and sancti- 
fied by the spirit of grace. They have a principle- 
of grace and holiness wrought in them. The new 
man, which z> created after the image of God, in 
righteousness and true holiness. They were once 
sinners, disobedient and unholy, as they were born 
into this world ; but they are born again, and made 
new creatures by the grace of the Holy Spirit,—* 



89 

Their understandings are enlightened to see the 
dreadful evil of sin, and the divine beauty of holi- 
ness. — Their wills are turned from folly and vanity, 
from the love of earth, and sense, and sin, to a holy 
contempt of the world, and a hatred of all that is sin- 
ful ; from a neglect of religion, to desires after God, 
and a delight in him ; from a mere formal profession 
of the gospel, to the faith and love of Christ, and a 
zealous pursuit of holiness ; and they place their 
highest hopes and their joys in things divine, spiri- 
tual and eternal. 

3. Their lives are righteous, and conformable to 
the will of God revealed in his word. He that does 
righteousness is righteous. The just man makes 
it the business of his life to do works of righteous- 
ness, taken in the largest sense ; f to worship God, to 
seek his glory, to obey his will, which is the rule of 
righteousness ; to do him all the service on earth 
that his station and circumstances admit of ; and to 
deal faithfully and justly among men, and do them, 
all the good that lies in his power. — These are the 
just men whose spirits are spoken of in the text.-— 
Now it is evident the apostle here means their spirits 
which are in heaven, and departed from these mor- 
tal bodies ; because the train of blessed companions, 
which he describes just before, leads our thoughts 
to the invisible world. — If we can suppose any part 
of these two verses to refer to earth, and our present 
state, it must be when he says, Ye are come to Mount 
Zion, to the city of the living God, i. e. the visible 
church of Christ under the gospel dispensation. 
But then he adds, You are come also to the heavenly 
Jerusalem, which may probably include all the in- 
habitants of heaven in general ; and descending to 
particulars, he adds, to an innumerable company of 
angels, and to the general assembty and church of the 
first born, who are written in heaven : whereby we 
must understand the whole invisible church of God 
among men, if we do not confine it to those who are 
already of the church triumphant. — And next he 
leads us to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits 
9 * 



90 

of just men made fierfect ; i. e. spirits released from 
flesh and blood, who have stood before God then 
Judge, and are determined to a state of perfection in 
heaven. — Besides, when St. Paul speaks of fellow- 
christians here on earth, it is not his manner to call 
them spirits, but men or brethren, or saints, kc* 
therefore by the naked and single term sfiirits, he 
distinguishes these persons from those who dwell in 
mortal bodies, and raises our thoughts to the world 
of blessed souls, released from the wretched ties and 
bondage of flesh and blood, the spirits of good men 
departed from this earth, and dwelling in the better 
regions of heaven. — I would here take notice also, 
that the apostle perhaps in this place chooses rather 
to call them just or righteous men, which is a term 
used frequently both in the Old and New Testament? 
that he might include the patriarchs, and the Jewish 
saints, as well as the souls of departed Christians, 
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Noah, Daniel and David* 
Job, Moses and Elijah, dwell in that happy world, 
with a thousand other spirits of renown in the an- 
cient church ; as well as the spirits of those that 
•have seen the Messiah, and believed in Jesus of 
Nazareth. — What a noble and wonderous assembly i 
What an amazing and blissful society of human souls, 
gathered from various nations, and from all ages, 
and joined together in the heavenly Jerusalem, the 
far&ily of God above. 

Ah ! my friends, methinks I hear you say, but you 
are giving long quotations from Dr. Watts in his 
own words : I acknowledge it, and shall continue so 
to do ; do you ask me the reason ? I answer, because 
his writings are the most clear, scriptural, descrip- 
tive, and awfully sublime, of any yet extant, on the 
same subject ; and surely no one in our day can at- 
tempt to vie with him. 

The just shall live by faith, 

On the dear Son of God, 
For so the scripture saith, 

WashM in the Saviour's blood, 



9f 

For Christians they are call'd, 

And followers of the Lamb, 
Though once in sin enthrall'd, 

Now bear the Saviour's name. 

But it is time that we hasten on to show their per- 
fection in knowledge, holiness and joy. The second 
inquiry is this, Wherein consists the perfection at 
which these spirits are arrived ? The word perfect 
cannot be taken here in its most extensive, absolute 
and sublime sense ; for in that sense it can belong 
only to God : he is and must be the sum and centre 
of all perfection forever ; all excellency, and all bles- 
sedness, in a supreme degree, meet in him ; none 
besides him can pretend to absolute perfection.-— 
Nor is the word used here in its most sublime sense 
in which it may be applied to a creature ; for when 
the spirits of just men are made never so perfect, 
the blessed soul of our Lord Jesus Christ will be 
more perfect than they ; for in all things he must 
have the fire -eminence. — Perfection, therefore, is 
taken in a comparative sense here, as in many other 
places in scripture. So St. Paul calls those Chris- 
tians on earth perfect, who are advanced in know- 
ledge and Christianity far above their fellows; I 
speak wisdom among them that are perfect. Let as 
many as are perfect be thus minded. So that blessed 
souls above,. are only perfect in a comparative sense. 
They are advanced in every excellency of nature, 
and every divine privilege, far above all their fellow 
saints here on earth. 

I desire it also to be observed here, that, the word 
perfection doth not generally imply another sort of 
character than what a man possessed before ; but a 
far more exalted degree of the same character which 
he was before possessed of. — The perfection then of 
the spirits of the just in heaven, is a glorious and 
transcendant degree of those spiritual and heavenly 
qualifications and blessings which they enjoyed here 
on earth in a lower measure ; implying also, a free- 
dom from all the defects and disorders to which they 



92 

were here exposed, and which are inconsistent with 
their present felicity.-— If I were to branch it into 
particulars, I would name but these three, viz. 

1. A great increase of knowledge without the 
mixture of error. 

2. A glorious degree of holiness without the mix- 
ture of the least sin. 

3. Constant peace and joy, without the mixture of 
any sorrow or uneasiness. 

Let us consider them distinctly. — 1. A great in- 
crease of knowledge, without the mixture of error ; 
and in this sense, it is perfect knowledge. — Part of 
the happiness of spirits consists in contemplation ; 
and the more excellent the object is which we con- 
template, and the more perfect our acquaintance with 
it, the greater is our happiness. — Therefore the 
knowledge of God, the infinite and eternal spirit, is 
the true felicity of all the ranks of created spirits in 
the upper and lower worlds. 

What unknown and unrivalled beauties are con- 
tained in the attributes of his nature ? What a heav- 
enly pleasure is it, to lose ourselves amongst the 
boundless perfections of his self-sufficiency and eter- 
nal existence, his wisdom, his power, his justice, his 
holiness, his goodness, and his truth ! And what a 
divine harmony amongst them all ! — How does the 
philosopher entertain and feast himself with daily 
discoveries of new wonders amongst the works of 
God, and behold the print of the hands of his Crea- 
tor on them all ! What superior glories are seen by 
the inquiring christian amongst the greater wonders 
of his grace ! and he receives the discovery of them 
with superior delight ; for his eternal life is in them. 
This is life eternal, that they may know thee the only 
true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. 
To know the Father and the Son according to the 
revelation which they have given of themselves in 
the gospel, is not only the way to obtain life eternal, 
and consequently the business of the saints below \ 
but the knowledge of this Son and this Father in 
their natural glories, in their personal characters, in 



their sublime and mysterious relations to each othef , 
and in their most amazing contrivances and transac- 
tions for the recovery of lost sinners, may be matter 
of the most pleasing inquiry, and delicious contem- 
plation, to the angels themselves. These are the 
things which the angels de&ire to look into. And the 
spirits of the just made perfect, are employed in the 
same delightful work ; for which they have much 
more concern and a dearer interest in it. 

O, can ye believe that the blest saints above 
Can't fly, and minister to saints here below ; 

Whose souls are enraptur'd in bright flames of love, 
What ! not a sympathy, or friendship bestow ? 

O can't they move swiftly through regions of air, 
And give us a prelude of their own happy state ? 

A wife or a partner as divulgent declare, 

And convey something sweet to their own lonely 
mate. 

Then show me the scripture forbidding this thing. 
Its awful repugnance to the great word of God, 

As sure as the saints and the angels shall sing, 
I see nothing against it on sacred record. 

What a comfort to have those intelligent creatures, 
Come hov'ring about us, in their pure whit'ned 
robes ; 
Their songs and their anthems in sweet heavenly 
metres, 
Their praises, could we hear them, astonish the 
globe. 

We know something of God by the light of nature. 
The reason that is within each of us, shines like a 
slender candle, in a private room, and gives us some 
twinkling and uncertain notions of the Creator. The 
notices that we obtain by the light of grace, or the gos- 
pel here on earth, are far brighter and surer, like 
the moon at midnight sjiining upon a dark, world* 



94 

©r like the rise of the morning star, and the dawft* 
ing of the day. But the knowledge which departed 
spirits obtain of their Creator and their Redeemer, 
in the light of glory, is as far superior to that of nature 
and grace, as the lustre of the meridian sun exceeds 
the pale moon-beams, or the glimmering twilight of 
the morning. 

They're all light and joy within, 

The temples of our God ; 
They are fully freed from sin, 

Wash'd in the Saviour's blood, 

They know no smart, 

Nor deadly grief; 
They're one in heart, 

And Christ is chief. 

This is what the apostle describes : For we know 
in p. art and we firofihecy in part ; but when that which 
is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be 
done away. When I was a child, I spake as a chud^ I 
understood as a child, I thought as a child ; but when 
I became a man, I put .way childish things. For now 
we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face : 
now I know in part, but then shall I know even as al- 
so I am known. The imperfection of our knowledge 
in this world consists much in this, that we are liable 
to perpetual mistakes. A thousand errors stand thick 
around us in our inquiries after truth, and we stum- 
ble upon error often in our wisest pursuits of knowl- 
edge, for we see but through a glass darkly, but then 
shall we know even as we are known, and see face to 
face ; i e. we shall have a more immediate and intu- 
itive view of God, and Christ, and of the Holy Spir- 
it, without such mediums as are now necessary for 
our instruction. We shall know them in a manner 
something akin to the way whereby God knows us, 
though not in the same degree of perfection ; for 
that is impossible. Yet, in these respects, our knowl- 
edge shall bear some resemblance to the knowledge 



95 

of God himself, \iz. that it shall not be merely, a ra- 
tional knowledge, by inferences drawn from his 
works; not merely a knowledge by narration, or re-, 
port and testimony, such as we now enjoy by his 
ivord ; but it shall be such a sort of knowledge as we 
have of a man when.we see his face ; and it shall also 
be a certain and unwavering knowledge, without re* 
maining doubts, without error or mistake. O happy 
spirits, that are thus divinely employed, and are en- 
tertaining themselves and their fellow-spirits, with 
those noble truths and transporting wonders of na- 
ture and grace, of God and Christ, and things heav- 
enly, which are all mystery, intanglement, and con» 
fusion to our thoughts, in the present state J 

We prophecy in part, 

Know only by degrees, 
This all the wise in heart. 

In every moment sees. 

And so it will be, 

Till our greet dying day ; 
And then we shall see, 

In worlds far away. 

2. This perfection consists in a glorious degree of 
holiness, without the mixture of the least sin ; and 
in this sense it is perfect holiness.~AU holiness 
is contained and summed up in the love and 
delightful service of God and our fellow-creatures. 
~When we attempt to love God here on earth, and 
by the alluring discoveries of grace try to raise our 
affections to things of heaven, what sinful damps 
and coldness hang heavy upon us ! What counter 
allurements do we find towards sin and the creature, 
by the mischievous influences of the flesh and this 
world ! What an cstrangedness from God cJo the 
best of christians complain of I And when they get 
nearest to their Saviour in the exercises of holy love, 
they find perpetual reason to mourn over their dis- 
tance, and they cry out often with pain at their 



96 

-hearts, * What a cursed enemy abides still in me ? 
and divides me from the dearest of my desire and 

But the spirits of the just madeperfect, have the 
nearest views of God, their Father and their Saviour; 
and as they see them face to face, so (may I venture 
to express it ?) they love them with a union of heart 
to heart : for he that is joined to the Lord in the 
nearest union in heaven, may well be called one spir- 
it with him, since the apostle says the same thing of 
the saints on earth. As our love of God is imper- 
fect here, so is all our devotion and woiship. — While 
we are in this world, sin mingles with all our reli- 
gious duties : we come before God with our prayers 
and our songs, but our thoughts wander from him 
in the midsl of worship, and we are gone on a sud- 
den to the ends of the earth. We go up to his tem- 
ple, and we try to serve him there an hour or two ; 
then we return to the world, and we almost forget 
the delights of the sanctuary, and the God we have 
seen there. But the spirits of the just made perfect 
are before the throne of God, and serve him day and 
night in his temple; And though they may not be 
literally engaged in one everlasting act of worship, 
yet they are ever busy in some glorious services for 
him. If they should be sent on any message to other 
worlds, yet they never wander from the sight of 
their God ; for if the guardian angeis of children, 
always behold the face of our heavenly Father, even 
when they are employed in their divine errands to 
our world ; much more may we suppose the spirits 
of just men made perfect never lose the blissful vi- 
sion, whatsoever their employments shall or can be, 

If the child's guardian angel does always see God, 
Depend on't the saint has the vision as fair, 

All holy and pure, he is washed in blood, 

And with the bright cherub in this will compare. 

And as our acts of worship on earth, and converse 
■with God, are very imperfect, so is our zeal and ac- 



97 

tivity for God extremely defective ; but it shall be 
ever bright and burning in the upper world. 

When we would exert our zeal for God on earth, 
how many corrupt affections mix with that zeal and 
spoil it ! dead flies, that cause that noble ointment !o 
send forth a stinking savour. How much of self, 
and pride, and vain ambition, too often mingles witk 
our desire to serve Christ and his gospel I Some 
have preached Christ out of vain glory, or envy 
and a mixture of those vices may taint our pious 
ministrations. When we seem to chive furiouslv 
like Jehu, to the destruction of the priests and the 
worship of Baai, too often the wild-fire of our lusts 
and passions, our envy, our wrath, and secret revenue 
join together to animate our chariot wheels. 

When we are ready to say with him < Come and 
see my zeal for the Lord/ perhaps God espies in our 
hearts too much of the same carnal mixture ; for 
Jehu exalted the true God, that he might establish 
mmsetf a king. But the spirits of the just are per- 
iect m zeal, and pure from all mixtures. Their very 
natures are like the angels, they are so many flames 
ot sacred and unpolluted lire, the « ministers of God 
that do his pleasure, and then hide their faces behind 
their wings ; when they have done all for God, thev 
sail clown, and confess they are nothing. 

Unpolluted flames, 

Of sacred fire they be, 
Then read their holy names 

And their bright kindred see/ 

And hear them sing, 

And shout Christ's praise, 
The heavens ring 

With their loud lays. 

Temptation and sin have no place in those hannv 
regions ; These are the evils that belong to earth- 
but within the gates of heaven nothing must enter 
that tempteth, nothing that clenletb. It is the n£ 



98 

lure of sinful thoughts, and idle words, sinful actions, 
and irregular affections, that makes our state of ho- 
liness so imperfect here below. We groan Within 
ourselves, being burdened ; we would be rid of these 
criminal weaknesses, these guilty attendants of our 
lives. But the spirits above, are under a sweet ne- 
cessity of being forever holy ; their natures have put 
on perfection ; the image of God is so far completed 
in them, that nothing contrary to the divine nature 
remains in all their frame ; for they see God in all 
the fairest beauties of his hoiiness, and they adore 
and love. They behold him without a veil, and are 
changed i?ito the same image from glory to glory. 
If these words are applicable to the state of grace, 
much more to that of glory. They see Christ as he 
is, and they are made completely like him, which is 
true concerning the state of separate spirits, as well 
as the hour of resurrection. As their love to God is 
perfect, so is their love to all their fellow-saints. 

We try to love our fellow-creatures and fellow- 
christians here on earth ; but we have so many cor- 
rupt passions of our own, and so many infirmities 
and imperfections belong to our neighbors also, that 
mutual love is very imperfect. Love is the fulfilling 
of the law ; but we shall never fulfil that law per- 
fectly till we are joined to the spirits of the just in 
glory, where there is no inhabitant without the flame 
of sacred love, no single spirit unlovely or unbe- 
loved. 

In those happy mansions there is no envy raised 
by the perfections or the honors of our neighbor- 
spirits ; no detracting thought is known thgre, no 
reproachful word is heard in that country ; and, per- 
haps, no word of reproach is to be found in the whole 
heavenly language. Malice, and slander, and the 
very names of infamy, are unknown in those regions ; 
and wrath and strife are eternal strangers. No di- 
vided opinions, nor party quarrels, nor seeds of dis- 
cord, are sown in heaven. Our little angry jars and 
contentions have no place there, and the noise of 
war and controversy ceases forever. There are no 



99 

©ffences givea, and none are taken, in that world cf 
love. Neither injury, nor resentment, is ever known 
or practised there, those bitter and fatal springs of 
revenge and blood. Universal benevolence runs 
through the whole kingdom ; each spirit wishes well 
to his neighbor, as to himself; and till we arrive 
there, we snail never be made perfect in love, nor 
shall we see the blessed characters of it described 
in the scriptures fuiiy copied out in living exam- 
ples. 

In that holy world dwells God himself, who is ori- 
ginal love ; there resides our Lord Jesus Christ, 
who is love incarnate ; and from that sacred head 
flows an eternal stream of love through every mem- 
ber, and blesseth all the inhabitants of that land with 
its divine refreshments. Holiness is perfect among 
the spirits of the just because love is perfect there. 

Objection. But are there not several graces and 
virtues that belong to the saints on earth that are 
finished at death, and can have no room in heaven ? 
How then can perfection of holiness in heaven con- 
sist in an increase cf the same graces we practised 
on earth ? 

Answer. Yes, there are several such virtues, and 
such graces as faith, and repentance, and godly sor- 
row, patience and forbearance, love to enemies, and 
forgiveness of injuries, Sec. But all these arise from 
the very imperfection of our present state, from the 
sins or follies of ourselves or our fellow -creatures. 
Faith arises from the want of sight ; repentance from 
the returns of guilt ; godly sorrow from the v. oik- 
ings of sin in us ; patience owes its very nature arc, 
exercise to the afflictions we sustain from the hand 
of God ; and forbearance and forgiveness respects 
the injuries that we receive from our fellow-crea- 
tures. But in heaven, faith, so far as it regards the 
absence of God and Christ, is lost in sight and en- 
joyment, as the light cf a glimmering taper is lost 
in the blaze of sun-beams. Repentance of old sins 3 
so far -as it is attended with any painful or shameful 
passions, ceases forever in heaven ; and there is no 



100 

flew guilt for us to repent of. There shall be no evil 
\rorkings in us to give pain to the spirit ; no afflic- 
tion from God to demand a patient submission ; no 
injuries from men to be borne or forgiven. Bu% 
there the same pious temper still continues in the 
spirits of the just made perfect, which was the spring 
of those graces on earth : and could the objects or 
occasions of them return, every spirit there would 
exercise the same grace, and that in a more glorious 
and perfect manner ; for their very natures are all 
over holy. 

There are no words of slander. 

In all the heavenly Zion ; 
Nor are there those of anger, 

And this we may rely on •: 

But all is mild, 

And calm as day, 
Their souls combin'd, 

On heaven's highway, 

3. The last thing I shall mention, wherein the 
perfection of the saints above consists, is, their con- 
stant peace and exalted joy without any mixture of 
sorrow or uneasiness ; and this is joy and peace in 
perfection. If cur knowledge, our love, and our 
holiness, are imperfect on earth, our joys must be 
so. The mistakes and the follies to which we are 
liable here below, the guilt that pains the conscience, 
and the sin that is restless, and ever working within 
us, will bring forth fruits of present sorrow, where 
they do not produce the fruit of eternal death. A 
saint in this world will groan under these burdens ; 
and it is divinely natural for him to cry out, O 
wretched man ! vj/io shall deliver ?ne front the body 
of this death ? Thus there are many things that are 
within us, and that belong to us, in this world, that 
forbid the perfection of our joys. And besides all 
these, we are attached and tied down to many other 
uneasinesses, while we dwell on earth. This world 



101 

is a fair theatre of the wisdom and power of God ; 
but it is hung round and replenished with tempta- 
tions to fallen man, proper for a state of trial ; soft 
and nattering temptations, that by the senses are ev- 
er drawing away the soul from God and heaven, and 
breaking in upon its divine repose and joy : and 
while We are surrounded with a thousand dangers, 
we cannot be said to dwell in perfect peace. The 
follies and the crimes of others afflict the soul of a 
good man, and put him to pain, as the righteous soul 
of Lot was vexed in Sodom from day to day, with 
their unlawful deeds. The greater vexations, and 
the little teazing accidents of life that attend us, dis- 
turb the sacred rest of the saint, and ruffle or wound 
his spirit. And the best of men on this account are 
sometimes ready to cry out with David, Woe is me 
that I dwell in Meshech, and sojourn in the tents of 
Kedar. My soul hath long dwelt with them that hate 
peace. O that I had wings like a dove/ for then 
would I fly away, and be at rest. And sometimes 
God himself is absent from the soul that longs after 
him ; he hides his face, and then who can behold it f 
We are smitten with a sense of sin, and the con- 
science is restless. We wander from thing to thing, 
in much confusion of spirit : we go ftom°providen- 
ces to ordinances, from one word in the Bible to a- 
nother, from seif-examination and inward guilt, to 
the bloed of Christ, and the mercy of the Father ; 
and it may be outward sorrows fall on us at the same 
time, guilt and judgment attend us at once. The 
deep of affliction calls to the deep of sin, at the noise 
of the floods of divine anger. We are kept in the 
dark for a season, and we see not the light of his 
countenance, nor know our own interest in his love. 
We go foiward, as Job did, but he is not there, and 
backward, but we cannot perceive him, S:c. All the 
comfort tiiat a good man hath at such a season, is to 
apptal to God, that he knowcth the way that I take ; 
when he hath tried me, 1 humbly hope, / shall come 
fur ih as gold. 

But the spirits of the just made perfect arc in 
10 * 



102 

peaceful and joyous circumstances. They know 
God, for they see his face ; they know that they love 
Sim, for they feel and enjoy it as the warmest and 
sweetest affection of their hearts ; and they are sure 
God loves them too, for every moment they taste 
his love, and live upon it in all the rich varieties cf 
its manifestation. 

G what unknown and endless satisfactions of mind 
arise from a full assurance of the love of God ! What 
tongue can express, or what heart can conceive, the 
sacred pleasure that. fills every soul in heaven, un- 
der the immediate impressions of divine love ! When 
the poor trembling, doubting believer, that knew 
himself to be infinitely unworthy of the favor of God, 
or of the meanest place in his house, shall be ac- 
knowledged as a son in the midst of his Father's 
court on high, and amongst millions of congratulat- 
ing angels i No cloud shall ever interpose, no mel- 
ancholy gloom, no shadow of darkness, shall ever 
arise in those regions : for the countenance of God* 
like the sun in its highest strength, shall shine and 
smile upon them forever. And through the length 
of ail their immortality, there shall not be the least 
interruption of the sweet intercourse of love on God's 
.side, or on theirs. In that world there is no sorrow, 
for there is no sin ; The inhabitants of that city, of 
the heavenly Jerusalem, shall ?iever say I am sick ; 
for the fieofile that dwell therein shall be forgiven 
their 'iniquity. When the righteous are dismissed 
from this flesh, they enter into peace, their bodies 
rest in their beds of earth, and their spirits walk in 
heaven, each one in his own uprightness. And as 
there is no sin within them, to render them uneasy, 
so there is no troublesome guest, no evil attendant, 
without them, that can give them fear or pain ; no 
sinners to vex them, no tempter to deceive them, 
no spirit of hell to devour or destroy : jVo lion shall 
be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, 
it shall no-t be found there : but the redeemed shall 
walk there. And the ransomed of the Lord shall re- 



108 

turn and come to Zion^ with songs and everlasting 
joy ujwn their heads : they shall obtain joy and glcd- 
nesS) and sorrow and sighing shall Jlee away. 

With songs and everlasting joy, 

Upon their sacred head ; 
Worship and praise their souls employ, 

And sin and wrath are fled. 

They're gone above, where Jesus is ? 

To speak his mighty fame, 
And momently renew their bliss, 

And shout the Saviour's name. 

They're fill'd with zeal, and fiVd with love ? 

And wing their way to God, 
And thus all happy, all above, 

By virtue of Christ's blood. 

They travel o'er the heavenly plains, 

A wondering as they go, 
And each receive immortal gains, 

Far from the world of woe. 

The music loud, the heavens ring, 

While Gabriel strikes his chord ; 
And little infants sweetly sing, 

Hosannas to the Lord. 

God himself shall never be absent, and then they 
cannot be unhappy. They behold his face in righ- 
teoiis?iesS) and they are satisfied when they awake in 
his likeness. When they leave this world of dreams 
and shadows, and awake into that brighter world of 
spirits, they behold the face of God, and are made 
like him, as well as when their bodies shall awake 
out of the dust of death in the morning of the resur- 
rection, formed in the image of the blessed Jesus. 
That glorious scripture (be the sense of it what it 
will,) can never be fulfilled in more glory on earth 
than belongs to the state of heaven ; The tabernacle 



104 

of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and 
they shall be his fie o file, and God himself shall be with 
them and be their God, And God shall wi/ie away 
all tears from their eyes ; and there shall be no more 
death, neither serrow, nor crying, neither shall there 
be any more pain j for the former things are passed 
away. The saints above see their blessed Lord and 
Saviour in all his exalted glories ; and they are with 
him where he is, according to his own prayer, and 
his own promise. They are absent from the body 
and firesent with the Lord. They have esteemed 
him on earth above all things, and longed after the 
sight of his face, whom having not seen they loved, 
but now they behold him, the dear Redeemer that 
gave his life and blood for them, they rejoice with 
joy much more unspeakable, and full of superior 
glory. 

Thus I have shewn wherein this perfection of 
spirits in heaven consists. It is a high and glorious 
degree of all those excellencies and privileges they 
were blessed with on earth, without any mixture of 
the contrary evil. It is a perfection of knowledge, 
holiness and joy. 

And canst thou hear of all this glory, O my soul, 
and meditate of all this joy, and yet cleave to earth 
and the dust still ? Hast thou not often mourned over 
thy ignorance, and felt a sensible pain in the narrow- 
ness, the darkness, and the confusion of thy ideas, 
after the utmost stretch and labor of thought ? How 
little dost thou know of the essence of God, even thy 
God ! and how little of the two united natures of 
Jesus, thy beloved Saviour ! How small and scanty 
is thy knowledge of thyself, and of all thy fellow- 
spirits, while thou art here imprisoned in a cottage 
of clay ! And art thou willing to abide in this dark 
prison siiii, with all thy foilies and mistakes about 
thee ? Does not the land of light above invite thy 
longing, and awaken thy desires ? those bright re- 
gions where knowledge is made perfect, and wi ere 
thy God and thy Redeemer are seen without a veil ? 
And is not the perfect holiness of heaven another 



105 

allurement to thee,0 my soul ? Dost thou not stretcli 
thy wings for flight at the very mention of a world 
without temptation, and without sin ? How often hast 
thou groaned here under the burden of thy guilt, 
and the body of death ! How hard hast thou wrestled 
with thy inbred iniquities ! an hourly war, and a 
long toilsome conflict ! How hast thou mourned in 
secret, and complained to thy God, of these restless 
and inward enemies of thy peace ! And art thou so 
backward still to enter into those peaceful regions 
where these enemies can never come, and where bat- 
tle and war are known no more, but perfect and ev- 
erlasting holiness adorns the inhabitants, and crowns 
of victory and triumph ? 

O the shattered and imperfect devotion of the best 
saints on earth! O the feeble fluttering efforts of 
praise ! What poor Hallelujahs we send up to heaven 
on notes of discord, and, as it were, on broken strings ! 
Art thou not willing, O my soul, to honor thy God 
and thy Saviour with sweeter harmony ? and yet 
what a reluctance dost thou shew to enter into that 
world of joy and praise, because the dark shadow of 
death hangs over the passage ! Come, awake, arise, 
shake off thy fears ; and let the sense and notice of 
what the spirits of the just above enjoy, raise thy 
courage, and excite thee to meet the first summons 
with sacred delight and raptuie,- 

Awake, arise, shake off your fears, 

In sweeter thoughts recount, 
What the bold Seraph hourly hears, 

On Zion's awful mount, 

He soars aloft in endless seas, 

And flies in bliss away ; 
In total labyrinths of peace, 

And floods of endless day. 

Rouse then, thou sleepy, earthly souI 3 

And stretch your pinions high, 
Rejoice to hear your minutes roll. 

Then you will love to die, 



106 

Having shewn that by the spirits of just ?nen 9 we 
fere to understand the souls -of all the pious and the 
good that have left the body ; and having described 
their perfection as a state of complete knowledge, 
holiness, and joy ; the third thing I am to consider 
is, what sort of perfection this is, or what are some 
of the special characters of it. And here I beg your 
attention to some pleasing speculations which are 
agreeable to the word of God, and to the nature and 
reason of things, and which have often given my 
thoughts a sacred entertainment. 1. It is such a 
perfection ae admits of great variety of employments 
and pleasures, according to the various turn and ge- 
nius of each particular spirit. For the word fitrfec- 
iion does not necessarily imply a state ot universal 
and constant uniformity. 

That the mind of every man here' on earth has a 
different turn of genius, and peculiar manner of 
thought, is evident to every observer. And why 
should not every pious mind or spirit carry to hea- 
ven with it so much of that turn and manner as is 
natural and innocent ? 

I grant it is a possible thing, that the many differ- 
ent geniuses of men on earth may perhaps be ac- 
counted for by the different constitution of the body, 
the frame of the brain, and the various texture of the 
nerves ; or may be ascribed to the coarser or finer 
blood, and corporeal spirits, as well as to different 
forms of education and custom, Sec. These may be 
able to produce a wonderous variety in the tempers 
and turns of inclination, even though all souls were 
originally the same.' But I dare not assert, that there 
is no difference betwixt the souls themselves at their 
first creation and union with the body. 

There are some considerations would lead one to 
believe, that there are real diversities of genius among 
the spirits themselves in their own nature. 

God the great Creator, hath seemed to delight him- 
self in a rich variety of productions in ail his worlds 
which we are acquainted with. Let us make a pause 
here, and stand still and survey the overflowing riches 



107 

©f his wisdom which are laid out on. this little spot 
of his vast dominions, this earthly globe on which wc 
tread ; and we may imagine the same variety and 
riches overspreading all those upper worlds which 
we call planets or stars. 

What an amazing multiplicy of kinds of creatures 
dwell on this earth 1 If we search the animated world, 
and survey it, we shall find there are some that fly, 
some that creep, or slide, and some walk on feet, or 
run ; and every sort of animals cloathed with a proper 
covering ; some of them more gay and magnificent 
in their attire than Solomon in all his glory, and each 
of them furnished with limbs, powers, and properties 
fitted for their own support, convenience and safety. 
How various are the kinds of birds and beasts, that 
pass daily before our eyes ! The fields and the woods, 
the forests and the deserts, have their different in- 
habitants. The savage and the domestic animals, 
how numerous they are ! and the fowl, both wild and 
tame ! What riches of dress and drapery are pro- 
vided to clothe them in aH their proper habits of na- 
ture ! What an infinite number of painted insects fill 
the air, and overspread the ground ! what bright 
spangles adorn their little bodies, and their wings, 
when they appear in their summer livery I what in- 
terwoven streaks of scarlet beauty, mingled with 
green and gold ! We behold a strange profusion of 
divine wisdom yearly in our own climate, in these 
little animated crumbs of clay, as well as in the ani- 
mals of larger size ! and yet there are multitudes of 
new strange creatures that we read of in the narra- 
tives of foreign countries ; and what a vast profusion 
among them all ! 

How are the mountains and the meadows adorned 
with a surprising plenty of grass and herbs, fruits 
and flowers, almost infinite, for the use of man, and 
meaner animals ! 

In the world of waters a thousand unknown crea- 
tures swim and sport themselves, and leap with ex- 
cess of life even in the freezing seas. Millions of 
inhabitants range through that liquid wilderness, with 



108 

swiftest motion, and in the wonders of their frame 
and nature proclaim the skill of an Almighty Maker. 
Others of the watery kind are but half alive, and are 
tossed from place to place by" the heaving ocean. 
Think of the leviathan, the eel, and the oyster, and 
tell me if God has not shewn a rich variety of con- 
trivance in them. And as various as their nature is, 
so various is the means of their life ; proper beds of 
lodging are provided for them, and variety of food 
suited to uphold every nature. 

What rich profusion here, 

Is scatter 'd all abroad, 
To make us love and fear, 
Obey and worship God. 
And sound his praise, 

Through every clime, 
In constant lays, 
Till end of time. 

The huge leviathan, 

The oyster and the eel, 
The lion and the lamb, 
Each in their nature feel. 
And go abroad, 

In quest of food, 
Depend on God, 
For every good. 

These shining crumbs of clay, 

With yellow, green and gold, 
March on their lucid way, 
And day in night unfold. 
And shine so bright, 

And please themselves, 
And fiii'd with light, 
They quit their cells. 

Mankind is a world of itself, made up of the min- 
gled or united natures of flesh and spirit. What an 
infinite difference of faces and features among the 



1®9 

sons and daughters of men ; and how much mere va- 
rious are the turns of their appetites, tempers and 
inclinations, their humors and passions ! And what 
glorious employment hath divine wisdom ordained 
for itself, in framing these millions of creatures with 
understandings and wills, of so inconceivable a va- 
riety, so vast a difference of genius and inclination, 
to be the subjects of its providential government ! 
And what a surprising harmony is there in the im- 
mense and incomprehensible scheme of divine coun- 
sels, arising from the various stations and businesses 
of men, so infinitely diversified, and distinct from one 
another, and centering in one great end, the divine 
glory ! An amazing contrivance, and a design wor- 
thy of God. 

Now, is the pure intellectual world alone destitute 
•f this delightful variety ? is the nature of spirits ut- 
terly incapable of this diversity and beauty, without 
the aids of flesh and blood ? hath the wisdom of God 
displayed no riches of contrivance there ? and must 
there be such a dull uniformity no where but in the 
country where spirits dwell, spirits the noblest parts 
of God's creation and dominion. Has he poured out 
all the various glories of divine art and workmanship 
in the inanimate and brutal or animal world, and left 
the higher sort of creatures all of one genius, and 
turn, and mould, to replenish all the intellectual re- 
gions ? Surely it is hard to believe it. 

Is dull conformity 

Confin'd to spirits alone, 
Who all so clearly see 

The Great, the Three in One ? 
Forbid it sense, 
It cannot be : 
In heaven's immense, 
They different see. 

In the world of angels we find various kinds and. 
orders. St. Paul tells us of thrones, and dominions,* 
and principalities, and St. Peter speaks of angels, an4 
11 



110 

authorities, and powers, and in other parts of the 
■word of God, we read the names of an archangel, a 
seraph and a cherub. And no doubt, as their de- 
grees and stations in the heavenly world differ from 
each other, so their talents and geniuses to sustain 
those different stations are very various, and exactly 
suited to their charge and business. And it is no 
improbable thought, that the souls of men differ 
from each other, as much as angels. 

But if there were no difference at first betwixt the 
turn and genius of different spirits in their original 
formation, yet this v/e are sure of, that God designed 
their habitation in flesh and blood, and their passage 
through this world, as the means to form and fit them 
for various stations in the unknown world of spirits. 
The souls of men having dwelt many years in par- 
ticular bodies, having been influenced and habituat- 
ed to particular turns of thought, both according 
to the various constitutions of those bodies, and the 
more various studies and businesses, and occurren- 
ces of life. Surely then we may with reason sup- 
pose the spirits departing from flesh to carry with 
them some bent and inclination towards various plea- 
sures and enjoyments. 

So we may reasonably imagine each sinful spirit 
that leaves the body, to be more abundantly inflamed 
with those particular vices which it indulged here, 
•whether ambition, or pride, or covetousness, or ma- 
lice, or envy, or aversion to God, and to all goodness ; 
and their various sorts of punishments may arise 
from their own variety of lusts, giving each of them 
a peculiar inward torment. And why may not the 
spirits of the just made fierfect, have the same vari- 
ety of taste and pleasure in that happy world above, 
according as they are fitted for various kinds of sa- 
cred entertainments in their state of preparation, and 
during their residence in flesh and blood ? He that 
has wrought us for the self same thing is God. In 
the world of human spirits made perfect, David and 
Moses dwell. Both of them were trained up in feed- 
ing the flocks of their fathers in the wilderness, to 



Ill 

feed and to rule the nation of Israel, the chosen flock 
of God. And may we not suppose them also trained 
up in the arts of holy government on earth, to be 
the chiefs of some blessed army, some sacred tribe 
in heaven ? They were directors of the forms of 
worship in the church below under divine inspira- 
tion ; and might not that fit them to become leaders 
of some celestial assembly, when a multitude of the 
sons of God come at stated seasons to present them- 
selves before the throne ? Both of them knew how 
to celebrate the praise of their Creator, in sacred 
melody ; but David was the chief of mortals in this 
harmonious work ; and may we not imagine, that h$ 
is, or shall be a master of heavenly music, before or 
after the resurrection, and teach some of the choirs 
above to tune their harps to the Lamb that was 
slain ? 

But to come down to more modern times, is there 
not a Boyle, and a Ray, in heaven ? pious souls who 
were trained up in sanctified philosophy ; and sure- 
ly they are fitted beyond their fellow-saints to con- 
template the wisdom of God in the works of his 
hands. Is there not a Moore,* and a Howe,f that 
have exercised their minds in an uncommon ac- 
quaintance with the world of spirits ? and doubtless 
4fheir thoughts are refined and improved in the upper 
world, and yet still engaged in the same pursuit. 

There is also a Goodwin, and an Owen, who have 
laid out the vigor of their inquiries in the glories 
and wonders of the person of Christ, his bloody sa- 
crifice, his dying love, and his exalted station at the 
right hand of God. The first of these, with a pene- 
trating genius, traced out many a new and uncom- 

* Dr. Hcnrxj Moore, a great searcher into the 
iv or Id of spirit s, and a jiious divine of the church of 
Jin gland. 

t Mr. John Howe, a name well known and high ly 
honored for his. sagacity of thought, his exalted ideas? 
and converse with the spiritual worlcf, asafifieeirs in 
fiis writings* 



112 

naon thought, and made rich discoveries by digging 
in the mines of scripture. The latter of them hum- 
bly pursued and confirmed divine truth ; and both of 
them were eminent in promoting faith and piety, 
spiritual peace and joy, upon the principles of grace 
and the gospel. Their labors in some of these sub- 
jects, no doubt, have prepared them for some cor- 
respondent peculiarities in the state of glory. For 
though the doctrines of the person, the priesthood, 
and the grace of Christ, are themes which all the 
glorified souls converse with, and rejoice in ; yet 
spirits that have been trained up in them with pecu- 
liar delight for forty or fifty years, and devoted most 
of their time to these blessed contemplations, have 
surely gained some sdvantage by it, some peculiar 
fitness to receive the heavenly illuminations of these 
mysteries above their fellow-spirits. 

There is also the soul of an ancient Eusebius, and 
the later spirits of an Usher and a Burnet, who have 
entertained themselves and the world, with the sa- 
cred histories of the church, and the wonders of di- 
vine providence in its preservation and recovery. 
There is a Tillotson, that has cultivated the subjects 
of holiness, peace and love, by his pen and his prac- 
tice. There is a Baxter, that has wrought hard for 
an end of controversies, and labored with much zeal 
for the conversion of souls, though with much more 
success in the last, than in the first. 

Now, O my friends, is there not a Watts among 
these heavenly worthies., whose wonderous soul in its 
rapid and amazing progress through all the branches 
of literature and science, has surprised the world of 
intelligences here below ; and as to poetic fire, he 
seems to have almost vied with angels, whilst his ac- 
quaintance with the world of spirits appears to be 
truly astonishing. Doubtless he has gone above. As 
Qnce he led the devotion of millions of the human 
race, in the sacred work of praise and thanksgiving 
io God, in the church here below, i.. his divine hymns 
and psalmody; so we may suppose him engaged in 
fhe same work on high. In this he has utterly eut- 



113 

rivalled every thing human. No doubt he has goiae, 
to the world of light, and taken his seat amongst the 
heavenly choristers, to the greatest advantage for the 
further exhibiting his poetical genius in elucidating 
the grand theme of poetry in the face of heavenly- 
day ! for the everlasting accommodation of the harp- 
ers above. And now, my friends, is it not a stale, 
hard and superstitious suggestion, to say that Watts' 
psalms and hymns are not now in heaven ? and will 
be heard and sung by you and me, if we ever have 
the happiness to arrive there. 

Now, though all the spirits in heaven enjoy the 
general happiness of the love of God and Christ, and 
the pleasurable review of providence ; yet may we 
not suppose these spirits have some specialcircum- 
stances of sacred pleasure, suited to their labors and 
studies, in their state of trial on earth ? For the 
church on earth is bu% a training school, for the 
church on high, and, as it were a tiring-room in 
which we are dressed in proper habits for our ap- 
pearance and our places in that bright assembly.' 
But some will reprove me here, and say, WhaJ, 
must none but ministers, and authors, and learned 
men, have their distinguished rewards and glories in 
the world of spirits ? May not artificers, and traders 
and pious women, be fitted by their character and 
conduct on earth, for peculiar stations and employ-* 
ments in heaven ? 

Yes, doubtles their zeal for the honor of God, their 
fervent love to Christ, their patience under long tri- 
als, and the variety of their graces exercised accord- 
ing to their stations on earth, may render them pecu- 
liarly fitted for special rewards on high. The wis- 
dom of God will not be at a loss to find out distin- 
guishing pleasures to recompense them all : though, 
where the very station and business of this life is 
such as makes a nearer approach to the blessedness 
and business of heaven, it is much easier for us to 
guess at the nature of that future recompense. Let 
rue ask my own soul then, < Soul, what art thou busy 
about . ? What is thy chief employment during th^ 
11 * 



114 

f tfesent slate of trial ? I hope thou art not making 
firovLion for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof: 
for then thou art fit for no place in heaven ; the doors 
will be forever shut against thee. But what special 
works of the s/iirit art thou engaged in ? dost thou 
redeem what hours thou art able, from the necessary 
businesses of life, to do more immediate service for 
God, to converse with things heavenly ? Art thou 
seeking to get a proper meetness for the sublimer 
employments of that upper world, and a relish of the 
most refined pleasures V 

But I proceed to the second particular. 

3. The perfection of the spirits above, not only ad- 
mits of a rich variety of entertainments, according to 
the various relish and inclination of the blessed, but 
it is such a perfection &s allows of different degrees, 
tven in. the same blessedness, according to the dif- 
ferent capacities of spirits, and their different degrees 
of preparation* The word perfection does not al- 
ways require equality. 

If all the soul* in heaven were of one mould, and 
make, and inclination ; vet there may be different 
sizes of capacity even in the same genius, and a dif- 
ferent degree of preparation for the same delights 
and enjoyments : therefore, though all the spirits of 
the just were uniform in their natures and pleasures, 
and all perfect, yet one spirit may possess more hap- 
piness and glory than another ; because it is more 
capacious of intellectual blessings, and better pre- 
pared for them. So when vessels of various sizes are 
hi own into the saiue ocean, there will be a great dif- 
ference in the quantity of the liquid which they re- 
ceive, though all might be full to the brim, and all 
made of the richest metal. 

Now there is much evidence of this truth in the 
holy scripture. Our Saviour intimates such differ- 
ences of rewards in several of his expressions. He 
promises the apostles, that they shall sit o?i twelve 
thrones, judging- the twelve tribes of Israel. And it 
is probable this may denote something of superior 
honor and dignity above the meanest of the saintsv 



115 

And even among the apostles themselves he seenxs 
to allow of a difference : for though he would not 
promise Jant£s and John to sit next to him, on his 
right hand and his left in his kingdom : yet he does 
not deny that there are such distinct dignities ; but 
says, It shall be given to them for whom it is fire* 
pared of my Father. Again, our Lord says, He that 
receives a firofihet and entertains him as a firo/ihet 9 
shall have a prophet's reward; and he that enter" 
tains a righteous man agreeable to his character, 
and from a real esteem of his righteousness, shall 
receive a righteous man's reward. And even the 
meanest sort of entertainment, a cuji of cold water 
given to a disciple, for the sake of his character, 
shall not go without some reward. Here are three 
sorts of degrees of reward mentioned, extending to 
the life to come, as well as to this life. Now though 
neither of them can be merited by works, but all are 
entirely conferred by grace, yet, as one observes 
here, i the Lord hath fixed a proportion between the 
work and the reward ; so that as one has different 
degrees of goodness, the other shall have different 
degrees of excellency.' 

Our Saviour assures us, that the torments of hell 
shall admit of various degrees and distinctions. Some 
will be more exquisite and terrible than others : It 
shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in 
the daij of judgment , who never sinned against half 
so much light, than it shall be for Chorazin, Beth- 
saida and Capernaum, where Christ himself had 
preached his gospel, and confirmed it with most ev- 
ident miracles. And the servants who did not the 
will of their Lord, shall be beaten with [more or few- 
41*] stripes, according to their different degrees of 
knowledge, and advantages of instruction : Now, 
may we not by a parallel reasoning, suppose there 
will be various orders and degrees of reward in hea- 
ven, as well as punishment in hell ; since there is 
scarce a greater variety among the degrees of wick- 
edness among the sinners on earth, than there is of 
holiness among the saints ? 



116 

When the apostle is describing the glories of the 
body at the great resurrection, he seems to represent 
the differences of glory that shall be conferred on 
different saints, by the difference of the great lumi- 
naries of heaven j There is one glory of the sun, 
another glory of the moon, and another glory of the 
stars ; for one star differs from another star in glo- 
ry : so also is the resurrection of the dead. 

The glorious luminaries on high ; 
Which gild so well the vaulted sky : 
Shine brighter some, and some more faint- 
Just so it is with yonder saint. 

It's so repugnant to be told, 
That all is dross, or all is gold, 
Is equal fine, or equal coarse, 
Or all but just above remorse. 

The shining orbs of yonder day, 
Which roll so bright their lucid way, 
Are but a semblance of the saint, 
Though all their lustre is but faint. 

No/ are they all variety ; 
And all creation which we see, 
And is the noble soul alone, 
Now all made up of the same tone I 

How far repugnfmt to our mind, 

While there's such strengthening facts combin'd. 

To prove the contrary true : 

Methinks this doctrine can't be new. 

But settled as the solid poles, 
Or as the wheel of nature roils, 
Ali verging to one glorious point, 
To bring the christian more delight. 

The prophet Daniel led the way to this descrip- 
tion, md the same spirit taught the apostle the same 



117 

language : And many of them that sleefi in the dust 
Q/ the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and 
some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they 
that be wise shall shine [with common ^loryl as the 
brightness of the firmament ; and they that turn ma- 
ny to righteousness, [shall have a peculiar lustre! 
as the stars, for ever and ever. 

Many of them which sleep in dust, 
Shall rise in judgment, sure they must; 
borne then will rise to endless life, 
And fight no more, but end all strife. 

Some will come forth to endless shame j 
Come forth to bear a load of pain : 
Immortal too ! what, live forever ! 
And no release, no, never, never ! 

O how the judgment day will sound I 
And call them up from under ground ! 
Then to receive a dreadful fate, 
Of horror sore, or glory great. 

Some then will shine like th' firmament, 
And some like stars, or more intent ; 
Their lustre bright as noon-day sun ! 
When their probation state is done. 

And if there be a difference in tfie visible dories 
of the saints at the resurrection, if those who turn 
vany to righteousness, shall sparkle in that day, with 
brighter beams than those who are only wise far 
th^r own salvation, the same reason leads us to be- 
Jieve a difference of spiritual glory in the state of 
separate spirits, when the recompense of their la- 
*or is begun. So He that /ilanteth, and he that wa- 
ter eth, are one ; and every man shall receive his own 
reward according to his own labor. If all be reward, 
cd alike, the apostle would not have said, Each man 
shall receive according to his own labor. Surely 
siace there is a distinction cf labtr», there will bo « 



118 

distinction of rewards too. And it is with this vielr 
that the same apostle exhorts the Corinthians, There* 
fore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, 
always abounding in the work of the Lord, foras- 
much as ye know that your labor is no: in vain in the 
Lord. 

Now, that great labour and diligence, that sted- 
fastness in profession, and that zeal in practice, to 
which the apostle exhorts them, might seem to be 
in vain, if those who were far less laborious, less 
zealous, and less stedfast, should obtain an equal re- 
compense. It is upon the same principle that he 
encourages them to holy patience under afflictive 
trials, when he says, Our light affliction which is but 
for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding 
and eternal weight of glory : while we look not at the 
things that are seen and temporal, but to the things 
invisible and eternal. 

Now if the saint, who was called to heaven almost 
as soon as he was made a christian, and went through 
no sufferings, should possess the same weight of glo- 
ry with the martyrs and confessors, under the long 
and tedious train of cruelties, whieh they sustained 
from men, or painful trials from the hand of God; I 
cannot see how their afflictions could be said to work 
for them afar more exceeding weight of glory. He 
urges them also to great degrees of liberality from 
the same motive : This I say, he that soweth spar- 
ingly, shall also reap sparingly ; arid he which soweth 
bountifully, shall also reap bountifully. Which words 
may reasonably be construed to signify the blessings 
of the life to come, as well as the blessings of the 
present life ; for this apostle, speaking of the. same 
duty of iiberality, expresses the same encouragement 
under the same metaphors. Let him that is taught 
in the word, communicate to him that teacheth in all 
good things. Be not deceived ; God is not mocked; 
for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap,* 
For he that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap 
corruption ; but he that soweth to the spirit, shall of 
the spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be 



119 

weary in well doing ; for in due season we shall reafa 
if we faint not. 

If we sow to the flesh we shall all reap corruption, 
If we sow to the spirit we shall sure reap adoption ; 
Clad all in white garments we surely shall shine, 
With yonder pure anthems our souls will refine. 

For this heavenly prize let us exert ourselves then. 
For the city of our God let each play the man ; 
Arouse from our slumbers and press toward the mark. 
And see that we are shelter'd all safe in the ark. 

How much to be gain'd by the powers ©f our own 1 
How much still remains whene'er we have done ! 
One particle of grace is more worth than a world, 
And Christ will shew this when his banner's unfuri'd, 

When God distributes the riches of his glory 
among the saints in heaven, he pours them out in a 
large and bountiful manner upon those who have dis<- 
tributed the good things of this life bountifully to 
the poor ; but he rewards the narrow-soul'd chris- 
tian with a more sparing hand. 

The soul that is fill'd with compassion's sweet grace, 

In heaven will have a high and rich place ; 

While the narrow-soul'd christian beneath him must 

fall, 
But infinitely better than we deserve all. 

With the same design does the apostle encourage 
christians to great watchfulness against sin and her- 
esy, as well as ministers to a solicitious care of their 
<loctrine and preaching. If any man build gold, sil~ 
ver, or firccious stones, ufion the true foundation Je- 
sus Christ, and raise a glorious superstructure of 
truth and holiness, he shall receive a reward answer- 
able to his skill and care in building ; for his work 
shall stand when it is tried by the fire of the judgment. 
But if he build wood, hay, and stubble upon.it,. evij 



l2b 

inferences, and corrupt practices, or trifles, fruitless 
controversies, idle speculations and vain ceremonies, 
his works shall be burnt, and he shall suffer loss, 
shall obtain a far less recompense of his labour. Yet 
since he has laid Christ for the foundation, and haS 
taught and practised the fundamental doctrines and 
duties of Christianity, though mingled with much 
foiiy and weakness, he himself shall be saved ; yet 
in so hazardous a manner as a man that is saved by 
fire, who loses all his goods, and jusl escapes with 
his life. 

A glorious structure built of gold, 
Of cordial truths and weil receiv'd, 

Does brighter glories far unfold ; 
This fact we always have conceiv'd, 

Just so, in christian graces great, 

Our souls walk on the heav'nly road.; 

We take the cherub for our mate, 
And thus we make our way to God. 

Sin still except, I mean to name, 

For angels are ail pure above, 
They are a bright and burning flame, 

They're wing'd with zeal and fir'd with love* 

But wood and hay and stubble frail 
Can never make the house so strong, 

Whene'er we try it we shall fail, 
For sure it can't endure so iong. 

Just so in spirituals, we shall find 
Unjust conclusions vainly fraught, 

Bad premises with sins combined, 

A practice loose and a loose thought* 

'Twill just escape us from the fire, 
Just save our souls if we are good ; 

But never shall we rise much higher 
Than just to miss a wrathful flood. 



121 

When you hear St. Paul, or St. John, speaking o£ 
the last judgment, they give hints of the same dis- 
tinction of rewards ; For we must all a/i/iear before 
the judgment-seat of Christ ; that every one may re- 
ceive the things done in his body, according to that 
he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Whatsoever 
good thing any man doth, the same shall he receive 
of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And be- 
hold, I come quickly ; and my reward is with me, to 
give to every man according as his work shall be. 

Behold I come quickly, said our blessed Lord, 
And my reward is with me, so says his pure word ; 
I'll deal out my pleasures, to the state of the soul ? 
And each broken heart I now will make whole. 

The justest proportion -I'll observe in the same, 
Then why won't poor creatures attend to my name, 
And tremble before me, and speed on to heaven, 
Since all my rewards with justice are given. 

The different degrees of glory shall shew. 
That my holy word is eternally true ; 
That justice and equity shall now turn the scale; 
And my holy promise never shall fail. 

Like sun-beams then some will appear at that day. 
When Jesus his infinite power shall display, 
And others appear like the bright firmament, 
Without this great bliss can we be content. 

And others shall appear like yonder bright star, 
And the bright glowing lustre of christians shall mar ; 
The white shining brightness, of some much mpre 

faint, 
Their beauty more dim, than the high favored saint. 

Though the highest and holiest saint in heaven 

can claim nothing there by the way of merit, (for it 

is our Lord Jesus Christ alone who has- purchased 

all those unknown blessings) j yet he will distribute 

12 



122 

them according to the different characters and de* 
grees of holiness which his saints possessed on earth ; 
and those larger degrees of holiness were also the 
free gift of God our Saviour. 

I have often represented it to my own thoughts 
under this comparison. Here is a race appointed ; 
here are a thousand different prizes, purchased by 
some prince to be bestowed on the racers : And the 
prince himself gives them food and wine, according 
to what proportion he pleases, to strengthen and an- 
imate them for the race. Each has a particular stage 
appointed for him ; some of shorter, and some of 
longer distance, When every racer comes to his 
own goal, he receives a prize in most exact propor- 
tion to his speed, diligence, and length of race. And 
the grace and the justice of the prince shine glori- 
ously in such a distribution. Not the foremost of 
the racers can pretend to have merited the prize ; 
for the prizes were all paid for by the prince him- 
self; and it was he that appointed the race, and gave 
them spirit and strength to run : and yet there is a 
most equitable proportion observed in the reward, 
according to the labors of the race. Now this simi- 
litude represents the matter so agreeably to the apos- 
ties way of speaking, when he compares the Chris- 
tian life to a race, that I think it may be called al- 
most a scriptural description of the present subject* . 
The reason of man, and the light of nature entirely 
concur with scripture in this point. 

The glory of heaven is prepared for those who are 
prepared for it in a state of grace. It is God who 
inakes each of us meet for our own inheritance amtng 
the saints j and then he bestows on us that inheri- 
tance, 

As grace fits the soul for glory, so a larger de- 
gree of grace advances and widens the capacity of 
the soul, and prepares it to receive a larger degree 
4>f glory. The work of grace is but the means, the 
-reward of glory is the end. New the wisdom of 
God always fits and adjusts the means in a clue pro- 
portion to answer the end he designs : and the same 



123 

Wisdom ever makes the end answerable to the means 
he useth > and therefore he infuses more and higher 
glories into vessels more enlarged and better pre- 
pared. Some of the spirits in heaven may be train- 
ed up by their stations and sacred services on earth 
for more elevated employments and joys on high. 
Can we imagine that the soul of David, the sweet 
psalmist, the prophet, and the king of Israel, is not 
iitted by all his labors and trials, all his raptures of 
faith, and love, and £eal, for some subiimer devotion, 
and nobler business, than his own infant child, the 
fruit of his adultery ? And yet our divines have ge- 
nerally placed this child in heaven, because David 
ceased to mourn for him at his death, and said, that 
he himself should go to him. Deborah, the prophet- 
ess, judged Israel, she animated their armies, ami 
sung their victories. Is not Deborah engaged in 
some more illustrious employment among the heav- 
enly tribes, than good Dorcas may seem to be capa- 
ble of, whose highest character upon record is, that 
she was full of alms-deeds, and wade coats and gar- 
ments Jbr the fioor. And yet perhaps Dorcas is pre- 
pared too for some greater enjoyments, some sweet- 
er relish cf mercy, or some special taste of the di- 
vine goodness, above Rahab the harlot ; Rahab, 
whose younger character was lewd and infamous, 
and the best thing that we read of her is, that her 
faith, under the present terror of the armies of Israel, 
tuught her once to cover and conceal their spies ; 
and unless she made great advances afterward in 
grace, surely her place is not very high in glory. 
The worship of heaven and the joy that attends it, 
may be exceedingly different in degrees, according 
to the different capacity of spirits ; and yet all may 
be perfect, and free from sinful defects. Docs not 
the sparrow praise the Lord, its Miker, , upon the 
ridge of a cottage, chirping in its native perfection ? 
and yet the lark advances in her flight and her soni; 
as far above the sparrow, as the clouds are above the 
house top. Surely superior joys and glories, must 
^belong to superior powers and services. 



124 

Can we think that Abraham, and Moses, who were 
trained up in converse with God face to face, as a 
man converses with his friend, and who followed him 
through the wilderness and unknown countries, in a 
glorious exercise of faith, were not prepared for a 
greater intimacy with God, and nearer views of his 
glory in heaven, than Sampson and Jephthah, those 
rude heroes, who, being appointed of God for that 
service, spent their days in bloody work, in hewing 
down the Philistines and the Amorites ? For we 
read little of their acquaintance with God, or con- 
verse with him, beside a petition now and then, or a 
vow for victory and slaughter ; and w r e should hard- 
ly have charity enough to believe they were saved, 
if St. Paul had not placed them among the examples 
of faith in his eleventh chapter to the Hebrews. Can 
we ever believe that the thief upon the cross, who 
spent his life in plundering and mischief, and made 
a single, though. sincere profession of the name of 
Jesus, just in his dying hour, was prepared for the 
same high station and employment in paradise, so 
near the right hand of Christ, as the gre^t apostle 
Paul, whose prayers and sermons, whose miracles 
of labor and suffering, filled up and finished a long 
life, and honored his Lord and Saviour more than ail 
the twelve apostles besides ? Can we imagine that 
the child that is just born into this world, under the 
friendly shadow of the covenant of grace, and weeps 
and dies, and is taken to heaven, is fit to be posses- 
sor of the same glories, or raised t© the same degree 
there, as the studious, the laborious, and the zealous 
Christian, that has lived above fourscore years on 
earth, and spent the greatest part of his life in the 
studies of religion, the exercises of piety, and the 
zealous and painful services of God and his country i 
Surely, if all these which I have named must have 
equal knowledge and joy in the future world, it is 
hard to find how such an exact equity shall be dis- 
played in the -distribution of' final rewards, as the 
word of God so frequently describes, 



125 

Objection. But in the parable of the laborers hired 
to work in the vineyard, does not every man receive 
his penny, they who were called at the first and third 
hour, and they who were called at the last ? Were 
not their rewards all equal, those who had wrought 
but one hour, and those who had borne the burden 
and heat of the day ? 

Answer. It is not the design of this parable to re- 
present the final rewards of the saints at the day of 
judgment, but to show that the nation of the Jews, 
who had been called to be the people of God above 
a thousand years before, and had borne the burden 
and heat of the day, i. e. the toil and bondage of ma- 
ny ceremonies, should have no preference in the es- 
teem of God above the Gentiles, who were called at 
the last hour, or at the end of the Jewish dispensa- 
tion : for it is said, the last shall be first, and th? 
Jirst last, i. e. The Gentiles, who waited long ere 
the gospel was preached to them, shall be the first 
in receiving it ; and the Jews, to whom it was first 
offered, from an inward scorn and pride shall reject 
it, or receive it but slowly : and Christ adds this 
confirmation of it, for many be called, but ferj cho- 
sen, i. e. though multitudes of Jews w T ere called to 
believe in Christ, that few accepted the call There 
is another reason why this parable cannot refer to the 
final rewards' of heaven ; because it is said, Some of 
them murmured against the good man of the house* 
Now there shall be no envy against their fellow- 
saints, nor murmuring against God, in the heaven!/ 
state. But the Jews, and even the Jewish converts 
lo Christianity, were ready often to murmur, that the 
gospel should be preached to the Gentile world, and 
that the Heathens should be brought into privileges 
equal to themselves. 

Thus it sufficiently appears from the frequent de- 
clarations of scripture, as well as from the reason 
and equity of things, that the rewards of the future 
world shall be greatly distinguished, according to 
the diffe rent degrees of holiness and service lor God, 
even though every spirit there should be perfect; 
12 * 



120 

nor is there any just and reasonable objection againsi .. 
it. Is it certain, then, that heaven has various de- 
grees of happiness in it ; and shall my spirit rest con- 
tented with the meanest place there, and the least 
and lowest measure ? Hast thou no sacred ambition 
in thee, O my soul, to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, 
and Jacob ? or dost thou not aspire at least to the 
middle ranks of glorified saints ; though perhaps 
thou mayest despair of those most exalted stations 
which are prepared for the spirits of chief renown, 
for Abraham, and Moses, of ancient time, and for the 
martyrs and the apostles of the Lamb ? Wilt thou 
not stir up all the vigor of nature and grace within 
thee, to do great service for thy God and thy Saviour 
on earth, that thy reward in heaven may not be small I 
Wilt thou not run with zeal and patience the race 
thai is set before thee, looking to the brightest cloud 
0jF •witnesses^ and reaching at some of the' richer 
prises ? Remember that Jesus thy judge is coming 
apace i he has rewards with him of every size ; and 
the lustre and weight of thy crown shall most exact- 
ly correspond to thy sweat and labor. But I must 
not dwell always on this head : I proceed therefore to 
the next, 

5. The spirits of the just in heaven enjoy such a 
perfection as is consistent with perpetual changes oi 
business and delights, even in the same person, or 
spirit. They may be always perfect, but in a rich 
and endles variety. It is only God who possesses 
all possible excellencies, and powers, and happi- 
nesses, at once, and therefore he alone is incapable 
of change: but creatures must possess and enjoy 
their deli gins in a succession, because they cannot 
possess and enjoy all that they are capable of at once. 
And according to this consideration the heavenly 
state is represented in scripture in various forms 
both of business and blessedness. Sometimes it is 
described by seeing God, by beholding him face to 
.face, by being present with the Lord, by being where 
Christ is, to behold his glory. Sometimes the saints 
above are said to serve him as his servants, Some- 



127 

times they are represented as worshipping before the 
throne , as being fed with the fruits of the tree of life ^ 
and drinking the living fountains of water ; and let 
it be noted, that twelve manner of fruits grew on this 
tree, and that they were new every month also. 
Sometimes they are held forth to us as singing a new 
song to God, and to the Lamb. And at another time 
they are described as wearing a crown of righteous- 
ness and glomj, of sitting on the throne of Christy of 
reigning forever and ever, and ruling the nations 
with a rod of iron. And in another place our happi- 
ness is represented as sitting down with Abraham, 
Isaac, a?nd Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. Now 
surely, this rich variety of language, whereby the 
heavenly state is proposed to us in scripture, must 
intend a variety of entertainments and employments, 
that may in some measure answer the glory of such 
expressions. 

How various their employments, how glorious their 
enjoyments, 
Who dwell all above in bright day ; 
How sanctified their souls, how sweet each moment 
rolls, 
For they've left their old houses of clay, 

The rich tree of life, engenders no strife, 
But yields a most wond'rous repast ; 

For they are all invited here, without sin 5 hell or fear ; 
So long as eternity lasts. 

It is not only the powers of our understanding that 
shall be regaled, and feasted in those happy regions 
with the blissful vision of God and Christ, but our 
. active powers shall doubtless have their proper en- 
tertainments too. When angels are so variously and 
delightfully employed in service for God, in his se- 
veral known and unknown worlds, we cannot suppose 
the spirits of men shall be eternally confined to a 
sedentary state of inactive contemplation. »Contem* 
plation is indeed a noble pleasure, and the joy of it 



.128 

rises high when it is fixed on the sublimest objects, 
and when the faculties are all exalted and refined : 
but surely such a sight of God and our dear Redeem- 
er, as we shall enjoy above, -will awaken and animate 
all the active and sprightly powers of the soul, and 
set all the springs of love and zeal at work in the 
most illustrious instances of unknown and glorious 
duty. 

I confess heaven is described as a place of rest, 
i. e. rest from sin and sorrow, rest from pain and 
weariness, rest from all the toilsome labors and con- 
flicts that we indure in a state of trial ; but it can 
never be such a rest as lays all our active powers 
asleep, or renders them useless in such a vital and 
active world. It would diminish the happiness of 
the saints in glory to be unemployed there. Those 
spirits who have tasted unknown delight and satis- 
faction in many long seasons of devotion, and in a 
thousand painful services for their blessed Lord on 
earth, can hardly bear the thoughts of paying no ac- 
tive duties, doing no work at all for him in heaven, 
where business is all over delight, and labor is all en- 
joyment. Surely his servants shall serve him there, 
as well as worship him. They shall serve him per- 
haps as priests in his temple, and as kings, or vice- 
roys, in his wide dominions ; for they are made kings 
and fir tests unto God forever. 

But let us dwell a little upon their active employ- 
ments ; and perhaps a close and attentive meditation 
may lead us into an unexpected view of their sacred 
commissions and embassies, their governments, and 
their holy conferences, as well as their acts of wor- 
ship and adoration. 

That heaven is a place or state of worship, is cer- 
tain, and beyond all controversy ; for this is a very 
frequent description cf it in the word of God. And 
as the gre^t God has been pleased to appoint differ- 
ent forms of worship to be practised by his saints 
and his churches under the different economies of 
his grace ; so it is possible he may appoint peculiar 
forms of sacred magnificence to attend Iris own war* 



129 

ship in the state of glory. Bowing the knee, and 
prostration of the body, are forms and postures of 
humility practised by earthly worshippers. Angels 
cover their faces and their feet with their wings, and 
cry Holy, holy, holy. Lord God of hosts ! But, what 
unknown and illustrious forms shall be consecrated 
by the appointment and authority of Christ, for the 
unbodied and bodied saints in heaven, to adorn their 
sacred offices, is above our reach to describe, or to 
imagine. Let us now consider what parts of worship 
the blessed are employed in. 

The various parts of divine worship that are prac- 
tised on earth, at least such as are included in natu- 
ral religion, shall doubtless be performed in heaven 
too; and what other unknown worship of positive 
and celestial appointment shall belong to the heav- 
enly state, is as much above our present conjecture 3 
as the forms of it are. Heaven is represented as 
full of praises. There is the most glorious and per- 
fect celebration of God the Father, and the Saviour^ 
in the upper world ; and the highest praise is offer- 
ed to them with the deepest humility. The crowns 
of glory are cast down at their feet, and all the pow- 
ers and perfections of God, with all his labors of cre- 
ation, his cares of providence, and the sweet myste- 
ries of his grace, shall furnish noble matter for di- 
vine praise. This work of praise is also exhibited 
in scripture, as attended with a song and heavenly 
melody. 

What there is in the world of separate spirits to 
answer the representations of harps and voices, we 
know not. It is possible that spirits may be capable 
of some sort of harmony in their language, without 
a tongue, and without an ear ; and there may be some 
inimitable and transporting modulations of divine 
praise without the material instruments of string or 
wind. The soul itself by some philosophers, is said 
to be mere harmony ; and surely then it will not 
wait for it till the body be raised from the dust, nor 
live so long destitute of all melodious joys, or of 
that spiritual pleasure which shall supply the place 



lib 

of melody, till our organs of sense shall be restored 
to us again. ^ 

O how the heavens ring) 

While seraphs sweetly sing, 

O what a holy thing, 

While all their incense bring 

To Zioii's sacred King, 

And shout Amen ! to all the praise. 

But is all heaven made up of praises ? Is there no 
prayer there ? Let us consider a little. What is 
prayer, but the desire of a created spirit, in an hum- 
ble manner, made known to its creator ? Does not 
every saint above desire to know God, to love and 
serve him, to be employed for his honor ; and to en- 
joy the eternal continuance cf his love, and its own 
felicity ? 

May not each happy spirit in heaven exert these 
desires in a way of solemn address to the Divine 
Majesty ? 

Mav not the happy soul acknowledge its depen- 
dence in this manner upon its Father and its God ? 
Is there no place in the heart of a glorified saint for 
such humble addresses as these ? Does not every 
separate spirit there look and long for the resurrection, 
when it is certain, that embodied spirits on earth, 
who ha T 'e received the first fruits of grace and glory, 
groan within themselves, waiting for the redemption 
of the body ? 

And may we not suppose each holy soul sending 
a sacred and fervent wish after this glorious day, and 
lifting up a desire to its God about it, though with- 
out the uneasiness of a sigh or a groan ? May it not, 
under the influence of divine love, breathe out the 
requests of its heart, and the expressions of its zeal 
for the glory and kingdom of Christ ? May not the 
Church above join the churches below in this lan- 
guage, Father, thy kingdom come, thy will be done 
on earth as it is in heaven ? Are not the souls of the 
martyrs that were skin represented to us as under. 



131 

the altar, cVying with a loud voice, How long Lore:, 
holy and true ? This looks like the voice of prayer 
in heaven. 

Are there no prayers in heaven ? 

No holy questions xisk'd ? , 
No holy time in seven ? 
No holy wish advanced ? 
About their clay 

That sleeps in dust, 
How long it may 
How long it must. 

Perhaps you will suppose there is no such service 
%% hearing sermons, that there is no attendance upon 
the word of God there ; but are we sure there are 
no such entertainments ? Are there no lectures of 
divine wisdom and grace, given to the younger spirits 
there, by spirits of a more exalted station"? Or may 
not our Lord Jesus Christ himself be the everlasting 
teacher of his church ? May he not, at solemn seasons, 
summon all heaven to hear him publish some new, 
and surprising discoveries, which have never yet 
been made known to the ages of nature, or of grace, 
and are reserved to entertain the attention, and ext 
alt the pleasure, of spirits advanced to glory ? 

Must we learn all by the mere contemplation of 
Christ's person ? Does he never make use of speech 
to the instruction of his saints ? 

Moses and Elijah came down once from heaven to 
make a visit to Christ on Mount Tabor, and the sub- 
ject of their converse with him was his death and 
departure from this world. 

Now, since our Lord is ascended to heaven, are 
these holy souls cut off from this divine pleasure ? 
Is Jesus forever silent? Does he converse with his 
glorified saints no more ? and surely if he speak, the 
saints will hear and attend. Or, it may be that our 
blessed Lord (even as he is man) has some noble 
and unknown way of communicating a long discptu -se g 
or a long train of ideas and discoveries^ to millions 



132 

of blessed spirits at once, without the formalities of 
voice and language ; and at some peculiar seasons 
he may thus instruct and delight his saints in heaven. 
Thus it appears there may be something among the 
spirits of the just above, that is analogous to prayer 
and preaching, as well as praise. 

Are there no sermons heard, 

On heaven's immortal piain 5 
No mighty preacher rear'd. 
Of everlasting fame ? 
To speak for God, 

With solemn awe, 
Open his word, 
Explain his law. 

Is there no mighty man, 

For wisdom sound and clear, 
Whose mighty genius can 
This noble title bear ? 
No Paul to plant, 
Apollos water, 
Heaven's richer grant, 
To Zion's daughter. 

O how delightful are the pleasures of celestial 
worship ! What unknown varieties of performance, 
what sublime ministrations there are, and glorious 
services none can tell. 

And in all this variety, which may be performed 
in sweet succession, there is no wandering thought, 
no cold affection, no divided heart, no listless or in- 
different worshipper. 

What we call rafiture and ecstacy here on earth, 
is perhaps the constant and uninterrupted pleasure 
of the church on high in all their adorations. 

But let the worship of the glorified spirits be never 
so various, yet I cannot persuade myself that mere 
direct acts or exercises of what we properly call 
worship) are their; only and everlasting work. 



133 

The scripture tells us, there are certain seasons 
%vhen the angels, those sons of God> come to present 
themselves before the Lord. It is evident, ihen,that 
the intervals of these seasons are spent in other em- 
ployments : And when they present themselves be- 
fore God, it does not sufficiently appear that mere 
adoration and praise is their only business at the 
throne. In the very place which I have cited, it 
seems more natural to suppose that the angelic spi- 
rits came thither to render an account of their seve- 
ral employments, and the success of their messages 
to other worlds. And why may we not suppose such 
a blessed variety of employments among the spirits 
of men too ? This supposition has some countenance 
in the holy scripture. The angel or messenger who 
appeared to St. John, and shewed him various vi- 
sions, by the order of Christ, forbids the apostle to 
worship him : for I am thy fellow -servant, said he, 
and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which 
keep the sayings of this book. These words naturally 
lead me to think, that though he appeared as a mes- 
senger from Christ, and in the form of an angel, yet 
he was really a departed saint, a brother, a fehow- 
propet, perhaps the soul of David, or Isaiah, or Mo- 
ses, who would count it an honor, even in their state 
of glory, to be thus employed by their exalted Lord ; 
and they also keep, or observe, and wait for the *c- 
complis^ment of the sayings of that book of the Re- 
velations, as well as the churches of their brethren, 
the saints on earth. 

I freely allow immediate divine worship to take 
up a good part of their everlasting day, their sab- 
bath ; and therefore I suppose them to be often en- 
gaged, millions at once, in social worship ; and 
sometimes acting apart, and raised in subiime medi- 
tation of God, or in a fixed vision of his biissfu; face, 
with an aet of secret adoration, while their intellec- 
tual powers are almost lost in sweet amazement. 
Sometimes they are entertaining themselves and 
their fellow-spirits with the graces and giones of the 
man Christ Jesus, the Lamb that was slain in t&e 
1H3 



134 

•midst of the throne ; but at other times they maybe 
making a report to him of their faithful execution of 
some divine commission they received from him, to 
be fulfilled either in heaven or in earth, or in un- 
known and distant worlds. 

There may be other seasons also when they are 
not immediately addressing the throne, but are most 
delightfully engaged in recounting to each other the 
wonderous steps of providence, wisdom, and mercy, 
that seized them from the very borders of hell and 
despair, and brought them through a thousand dan- 
gers and difficulties to the possession of that fair in- 
beritance. When the great God shall unravel the 
scheme of his own counsels, shall unfold every part 
of his mysterious conduct, and set before them the 
reason of every temptation they grappled with, and 
of every sorrow they felt here on earth, and with 
with what divine and successful influence they all 
wrought together to train them up for heaven, what 
matter of surprising delight and charming conversa- 
tion shall this furnish the saints with in that blessed 
world I 

And now and then in the midst of their sacred di- 
alogues, by a sympathy of soul, they shall shout to- 
gether in sweet harmony, and join their exalted 
songs to him that sits upon the throne and to the 
Lamb, c Not unto us, G Lord, not unto us ; but 
to thy power, to thy wisdom, and to thine abounding 
mercy, be renown and honor to everlasting ages/ 
Nor is it improper or unpleasant to suppose, that 
among the rest of their celestial conferences, they 
shall show each other the fair and easy solution of 
those difficulties and deep problems in divinity, 
which had exercised and perplexed them here or 
earth, and divided them into little angry parties, 
They shall look back with holy shame on some of 
their learned and senseless distinctions, and be rea- 
dy to wonder sometimes what trifles and imperti- 
nences had engaged them in dark and furious dis- 
putes. Darkness and entanglement shall vanish at 
once from many of those knotty points of controver- 



135 

sy, when they behold them in the light of heaven i 
and the rest of them shall be matter of delightful 
instruction for superior spirits to bestow upon those 
of lower rank, or on souls lately arrived at the re* 
gions of light. 

In short, there is nothing written in the book of na- 
ture, the records of providence, or the sacred vol- 
umes of grace, but may minister materials at special 
seasons for the holy conference of the saints on high. 
No history nor prophecy, no doctrine nor duty, no 
command nor promise, nor threatening in the bible, 
but may recal the thoughts of the heavenly inhabi- 
tants, and engage them in sweet conversation. All 
things that relate to the affairs of past ages, and past 
-worlds, as well as the present regions of light and 
happiness where they dwell, may give them new 
themes of dialogue and mutual intercourse. 

And though we are very little acquainted, whilst 
iiere on earth, with any of the planetary worlds be- 
sides that which we inhabit, yet who knows how our 
acquaintance may be extended hereafter among the 
inhabitants of the various and distant globes ? and 
what frequent and swift journies we may take thith- 
er, when we are disencumbered of this load of llesh 
and blood, or when our bodies are raised again, ac- 
tive and swift as sun-beams? Sometimes we may en- 
tertain our holy curiosity there, and find millions of 
new discoveries of divine power, and divine contri- 
vance in those unknown regions ; and bring back 
from thence new lectures of divine wisdom, or tid- 
ings of the affairs of those provinces, to entertain our 
fellow-spirits, and to give new honours to Gcd the 
creator and the sovereign. 

So a pious traveller in our lower world visits Af- 
rica, or both the Indies. At his return he sits in a 
circle of attentive admirers, and recounts to them 
the wonderous products of those climates, and the 
customs and manners of those distant countries. He 
gratifies their curiosity with some foreign varieties, 
-and feasts their eyes and their ears at once. Then 
at the end of every story, he breaks out into holy Ian- 



136 

guage, and adores the various riches and wisdom of 
God the creator. 

To proceed yet one step further : since there are 
different degrees of glory, we may infer a variety of 
honours as well as delights prepared for the spirits 
of the just made perfect. Some part of the happi- 
ness of heaven is described in scripture by crowns 
and thrones, by royalty and kingly honours : why may 
we not then suppose that such souls, whose sublime r 
graces have prepared them for such dignity and of- 
fice, may rule the nations, even in a literal sense I 
Why may not those spirits that have passed their tri- 
als in flesh and blood, and come off conquerors,-— 
why may they not sometimes be appointed visitors 
and supe rintendants over whole provinces of intelli- 
gent beings ia lower regions, who are yet labouring 
in their state of probation ? or perhaps they may be 
exalted to a presidency over inferior ranks of happy 
spirits, may shine bright amongst them as the morn- 
ing star, and lead on their holy armies to celestial 
work or worship. The scripture itself gives us a 
hint of such employments in the angelic world, and 
such presidences over some parts of our world, or of 
their own. Do we not read of Gabriel and Michael, 
and their management of the affairs of Persia, and 
Greece, and Judah, in the book of Daniel ? and it is 
an intimation of the same hierarchy, when some su- 
perior angel led on a multitude of the heavenly host 
to sing a hymn of praise at Bethlehem, when the Son 
of God was born there. Now if angels aro thus dig- 
iiified, may not human spirits unbodied have the same 
office ? Our Saviour, when he rewards the faithful 
servant that had gained ten pounds, bids him take uu- 
Uiority over ten cities ; and he that had' gained five, 
had Jive cities under his government : So that this is 
'not a mere random thought, or a wild invention of 
fancy, but patronised by the word of God. 

Among the pleasures and engagements of the up- 
per world, there shall be always something new and 
entertaining; for the works and dominions of God 
afre vast^e^ond all our comprehension. And what a 



137 

perpetual change, what a glorious but improving' ro- 
tation of businesses and joys, shall succeed one an- 
other through the ages of eterniry, we shall never 
know till we come among them. This thought leads 
me to the last particular, viz. 

4. The perfection which the blessed spirits enjoy, 
gives room for large additions and continual im- 
provement. 

Their knowledge and their joy may be called fiei*- 
fect^ because there is no mixture of error or sorrow 
with it ; and because it is sufficient every moment 
for the satisfaction of present desires, without an un- 
easiness of mind : but it may be doubted whether 
any creature ever was or ever will be so perfect, that 
it is not capable of addition or growth in any excel- 
lency or enjoyment. 

The man Christ Jesus, in his present glorified state 3 
has not such a perfection as this. He waits daily to 
see his Father's promises fulfilled to him ; he waits 
till all things are put under him^ and his enemies be 
made his [actual] footstool : But we know that all 
things are not yet put under him ; i. e. all the na- 
tions are not yet subject to his spiritual kingdom, 
nor become obedient to his gospel. As fast as his 
kingdom grows on earth, so fast his honours and his 
joys arise ; and he waits still for the complete union 
of all his members to himself, the sacred head : he 
waits for the morning of the resurrection, when he 
shall be glorified in the bright and general assembly 
of his saints, and admired in all them that believe, 

O that illustrious and magnificent appearance I 
that 6hining hour of jubilee, when the bodies of mil- 
lions of saints shall awake out of the dust, and be re- 
leased from their long dark prison ! when they shall 
encompass and adore Jesus their Saviour and their 
God, and acknowledge their new life and immortal 
state to be owing to his painful and shameful death I 
when Noah, Abraham, and David, and all their pious 
progenitors, shall bow and worship Jesus, their Son 
and their Lord ! when the holy army of martyrs, 
springing from the dust with palms of victory in 
13 * 



138 

iiieir iiandb, shall ascribe their conquest and their tri- 
umph to the Lamb that was slain ! when he shall 
present his whole church before the presence of his 
o%vn and his Father's glory, without sfiot, and fault- 
less, with exceeding joy I 

Can we imagine that Christ himself, even the man 
Jesus, in the midst of all this magnificence and these 
honours, shall feel no new satisfaction, and have no 
relish of all this joy, above what he possessed while 
His church lay bleeding on earth, and this illustrious 
company were buried under ground in the chains of 
death ? 

And yet you will say, Christ in heaven is made 
perfect in knowledge and in joy ; but his perfection 
admits of improvement. 

Now if the head be not above the capacity of all 
growth and addition, surely the members cannot pre- 
tend to it. 

That there is, and hath been, and will be, contin= 
ual progress and improvement in the knowledge and 
joy of souls, may be easily proved many ways, viz. 
from the very nature of human reason itself; from 
the narrowness, the weakness, and limitation, even 
of our intellectual faculties in their best estate ; from 
the immense variety of objects that we shall converse 
about ; from our peculiar concern in some future 
providences, which it is not likely we should know 1 
before they occur ; and from the glorious new scenes 
of the resurrection. 

1. We may prove the increase of knowledge 
among the blessed above, from the very nature of 
human reason itself; which is a faculty of drawing 
inferences, or some new propositions and conclusions, 
iiom propositions or principles which we knew be- 
fore . 

Now, surely we shall not be dispossessed of this 
power when we come to heaven. What we learn of 
God there, and the glories of his nature, or his w r orks, 
will assist and incline us to draw inferences for his 
honour, and for our worship of him. 

And if we could be supposed to have never so ma* 



139 

ny propositions, or new ^principles of knowledge? 
crowded into our minds, at the first entrance into 
heaven, yet surely our reasoning faculty would still 
be capable of making some advance by way of infer- 
ence, or building some superstructure upon so noble 
a foundation. And who knows the intense pleasure 
that will arise perpetually to a contemplative mind, 
by a progressive and infinite pursuit of truth in this 
manner, where we are secure against the danger of 
all error and mistake, and every step we take is all 
light and demonstration ! 

Shall it be objected here, that our reason shall be 
as it were lost and dissolved in intuition and imme- 
diate sight, and therefore it shall have no room or 
place in that happy world. To this I would reply, 
that, we shall have indeed much more acquaintance 
with spiritual objects by immediate intuition, than 
we ever had here on earth ; but it does- not follow 
thence, that we shall lose our reason. 

Angels have immediate vision of God and divine 
things but can we suppose they are utterly incapa- 
ble of drawing an inference, either for the improve- 
ment of their knowledge, or the direction of their 
practice ? When they behold any special and more 
curious piece of divine workmanship, can they not 
further infer the exquisite skill or wisdom of the 
Creator ? And are they not capable of concluding, 
that this peculiar instance of divine wisdom demands 
an adoring thought? Thus intuition, or immediate 
sight, in a creature, does not utterly exclude and 
forbid the use of reason. I reply again, can it ever 
be imagined, that being released from the body, we 
shali'possess in one moment, and retain through eve- 
ry moment of eternity, ail the innumerable ranks 3 
and orders, and numbers of propositions, truths and 
duties, that may be derived in a long succession of 
ages by the use of our reasoning powers ? But this 
leads me to the second argument, viz. 

2. The weakness and narrowness of human un- 
derstandings in their best estate, seems to make ^ 
necessary that knowledge should be progressive* • 



140 

Enrapt in purest vision, 

The holy saint shall tell. 
The worth of circumcision, 

To save his soul from hell i 
While circumcis'd in heart and ears, 
He reads above, and sings and fears, 
And with a solemn awe there hears, 

The wonderous tale full well. 

Continual improvement in knowledge and delight* 
among the spirits of the just made perfect, is neces- 
sary for the same reason that proved their variety of 
entertainments to be pleasures, viz. Because crea- 
tures cannot take in all the vast, the infinite variety 
of conceptions in the full brightness and perfection 
of them at once, of which they are capable of in a 
sweet succession. Can we ever persuade ourselves, 
that all the endless train of thoughts, and ideas, and 
scenes of joy, that shall ever pass through the mind 
of a saint through the long ages of eternity, should 
be crouded into every single mind the first moment 
of its entrance into these happy regions ? And is a 
human mind capacious enough to receive, and strong 
enough to retain such an infinite multitude of ideas 
forever ? Or, is this the manner of God's working 
among his intellectual creatures ? Surely God knows 
our frame, and pours in light and glory as we are 
able to bear it. 

Such a bright confusion of notions, images, and 
transports, would probably overcome the most ex- 
alted spirit, and drown all the noble faculties of the 
mind at once. As if a man who was born blind, 
should be healed in an instant, and should open his 
eyes first against the full blaze of the noon-day sun, 
this would so tumultuate the spirits, and confound 
the organs of sight, as to reduce the man back again 
to his first blindness, and, perhaps, might render 
him incurable forever. 

3. This argument wUl be much strengthened, if 
we but take a short view of the vast and incompre- 
hensible variety of objects that may be proposed to 



141 

our minds in the future state, and may Feast our con- 
templation, and improve our joy. 

The blessed God himself is an infinite being ; His 
perfections and glories are unbounded : His wisdom, 
his holiness, his goodness, his faithfulness, his power 
and justice, his all-sufficiency, his self-origination, 
and his unfathomable eternity, have such a number 
of rich ideas belonging to each of them, as no crea- 
ture shall ever fully understand. Yet it is but rea- 
sonable to believe, that he will communicate so much 
of himself to us by degrees, as he sees necessary for 
our business and blessedness in that upper world* 
Can it be supposed that we shou'd know every thing 
that belongs to God all at once, which he discovers 
to us gradually as our capacities improve ? Can we 
think that an infant soul that had no time for im- 
provement here, when it enters into heaven, shall 
know every thing concerning God, that it can ever 
attain to through all the ages of its immortality? 
When a blessed spirit has dwelt in heaven a thou- 
sand years, and conversed with God nnd Christ, an- 
gels and fellow-spirits, during all that season, shall 
it know nothing more of the nature and wonderous 
properties of God, than it knew the first moment of 
its arrival there ? 

But I add further, the works of God shall doubtless 
be the matter of our search and delightful survey, 
as well as the nature and properties of God himself. 
His works are honorable and glorious, and sought 
out of all that have pleasure in them. In his works 
we shall read his name, his properties, and his glo-- 
lies, whether Ave fix our thoughts on creation or 
providence. 

The works of God, and his wonders of creation, in 
the known and unknown worlds, both as to the num- 
ber, the variety, and vastness of them, are almost in- 
finite ; i. e. they transcend all the limits of our ideas, 
and all our present capacities to conceive. Now 
there is none of these Vvorks of wonder, but may ad- 
minister some entertainment to the mind of mai^ 
and may richly furnish him new matter for the praise 
of God in the long successions of eternity, 



142 

O what a rich variety in all their heavenly pleasures ! 
O what a contrariety from all our earthly treasures I 
O what a grand profusion join ! 
O how their holy loves combine ! 
To make their radiant armies shine ? 
While Jesus whispers, Thou art mine ! 
Then run, ye pristine hours of time, 
Eternity in endless prime ! 
While we our crowns and palms resign, 
And bless the potent measures. 

There is scarce an animal of the more complete 
kind, but would entertain an angel with rich curi- 
osities, and feed his contemplation for an age. What 
a rich and artful structure of flesh upon the solid 
and well compacted foundation of bones ! What cu- 
rious joints and hinges, on which the limbs are mov- 
^d to and fro ! What an inconceivable variety of 
nerves, veins, arteries, fibres, and little invisible 
parts, are found in every member ! What various 
fluids, blood and^juices, run through and agitate the 
innumerable slender tubes, the hollow strings and 
strainers of the body ! What millions of folding 
doors are fixed within, to stop those red or transpa- 
rent rivulets in their course, either to prevent their 
return backwards, or else as a means to swell the 
muscles and move the limbs ! 

What endless contrivances to secure life, to nou- 
rish nature, and to propagate the same to future an- 
imals ! What amazing lengths of holy meditation 
would an angel run upon these subjects, and what 
sublime strains of praise would a heavenly philoso- 
pher raise hourly to the Almighty and All-wise Cre- 
ator ! And all this from the mere brutal world ! 

Flit if we survey the nature of man, he is a crea- 
ture made up of mind and animal united, and would 
furnish still more numerous and exalted materials 
for contemplation and praise ; for he has all the 
richest wonders of animal nature in him, besides the 
unknown mysteries of mind or spirit. 



143 

Surely, it will create a sacred pleasure in happy 
souls above, to learn the wonders of divine skill ex- 
erted and shining in their own formation, and in the 
curious workmanship of those bodily engines? in 
which they once dwelt and acted. 

Then let them descend to herbs and plants. How 
numerous are all the products of earth upon her 
green surface, and all within her dark bowels ! All 
the vegetable and the mineral kingdoms ! How ma- 
ny centuries would all these entertain a heavenly in- 
quirer ! The worlds of air, and the worlds of water, 
the planetary and starry worlds, are still new objects 
rich with curiosities ; these are all monuments of 
divine wisdom, and fit subjects for the contemplation 
of the blessed. Nor can we be supposed to have for 
ever done with them all w r hen we leave this body; 
and that for two reasons : one is, because God has 
never yet received the honor due to his wisdom and 
power, displayed in the material creation, from the 
hands or tongues of men ; and the other is, because 
the spirits of the just shall be joined to bodies again 5 
and then they shall certainly have necessary con- 
verse with God's material works and worlds ; though 
perhaps they have more acquaintance with them nov/ 
in their separate state, than we are apprised of. 

And besides all these material works ot God, what 
an unknown variety of other v/onders belong to the 
world of pure joys, which lie hid from us, and are 
utterly concealed behind the veil of flesh and blood S 
What are their natures, and the reach of their pow- 
ers 1 What ranks and orders they are distributed 
into ! What are their governments, their several 
employments, the different customs and manners of 
life in the various and most extensive regions of that 
intellectual world ! What are their messages to our 
earth, or the other habitable globes, and what capa- 
cities they are endowed with to move or influence 
animate and inanimate bodies ! All these, and a thou° 
sand more of the like nature, are made known doubt- 
less to the inhabitants of heaven. These are things 
that belong to the provinces of light and immortal!- 



144 

ty ; but many of them are mysteries to us who dwell 
in these tabernacles ; they lie far beyond our ken, 
and are wrapt up in sacred darkness, that we can 
hardly do so much as shoot a guess at them. 

Now, can we suppose that the meanest spirit in 
heaven, has a full and entire survey of all these in- 
numerable works of God, from the first moment of 
its entrance thither, throughout all the ages of im- 
mortali y, without the change of one idea, or the pos- 
sibility of any improvement ? This would be to give 
a sort of omniscience to every happy spirit, w r hich is 
more than is generally allowed to the man Christ 
Jesus. 

And if there be such a thing as degrees of glory 
among the saints above, we maybe well assured, that 
the lowest rank of blessed spirits is not advanced 
to this amazing degree. 

Is there no new thing, neither under nor above the 
sun, that God can entertain any of his children with 
in the upper world, throughout the infinite extent of 
all future ages ? Are they all made at once so much 
like God, as to know all things ? Or if each of them 
have their stinted size of knowledge, and their limit- 
ed number of ideas, at their first release from the 
body, then they are everlastingly cut off from all the 
surprises of pleasure that arise from new thoughts, 
and new scenes, and new discoveries. Does every 
saint in heaven read God's great volume of nature 
through and through the first hour it arrives there ? 
Or is each spirit confined to a certain number of 
leaves, and bound eternally to learn nothing new ; 
but to review perpetually his own limited lesson? 
Does he not, or can he not turn over another leaf, 
and read his Creator's name in it, and adore his wis- 
dom in new wonders of contrivance ? These things 
are improbable to such a high degree, that I dare al- 
anost pronounce them untrue. 

The provinces of light, 
Are far beyond our sight, 
Exprest in wond'rous forms, 
The holy cherub charms* 



145 

The seraphs incense bring, 
And Gabriel strikes his string, 
And infants sweetly sing, 

Hosanna to, Hosanna to, Hosanna to the son of David, 
Replete with bliss, Replete with bliss, Replete with 
bliss, 
For they are saved, 

And shout — < Hail great Immanuel all divine, 

In thee thy Father's glories shine, 
Thou brightest, sweetest, fairest one-, 
That eyes have seen or angels known/ 

The book of providence is another volume where- 
in God writes his name too. Has every single saint 
such a vast and infinite length of foreknowledge 
given him at his first admission into glory, that he 
knows beforehand all the future scenes of providence, 
and the wonders which God shall work in the upper 
and lower worlds ? I thought the Lion of the tribe 
of Judah, the root and the offspring of David, had 
been the only person in heaven or earth that was 
worthy to take the book, and to loose the seven seals 
thereof. Surely, the meanest of the saints does not 
foreknow all those great and important counsels of 
God, which our Lord Jesus Christ is intrusted with. 
And yet we may venture to say? that the spirits of 
the just in heaven shall know those great and im- 
portant events that relate to the church on earth, as 
they arise in successive seasons, that they may give 
to God, and to his Son Jesus Christ, revenues of due 
honor upon this account, as I shall prove immedi- 
ately. 

And indeed if the limits of their knowledge in 
heaven were so fixed at their first entrance there, 
that they could never be acquainted with any of these 
successive providences of God afterwards, we here 
on earth have a great advantage above them, who see 
daily the accomplishment of his divine ..counsels, and 
adore the wonders of his wisdom and his love ; aig! 
14 — ' • ; 



146 

from this daily increase of knowledge, we take our 
share in the growing joys and blessings of Zion. 

But this thought leads me to the fourth argument 
for the increase of knowledge in heaven. 

4. There have been, and there are many future 
providences on earth, and transactions in heaven, in 
which the spirits of the just have a very great and 
dear concernment, and therefore they must know 
them when they come to pass ; and yet it is by no 
means probable that they are known in all their glo- 
rious circumstances beforehand by every spirit in 
heaven. 

Let us descend a little to some psrticular instances, 
and see whether we cannot make it appear fiom 
scripture, with most convincing evidence, that the 
saints in heaven, obtain some additions to their 
knowledge, by the various new transactions in heav- 
en and in earth. 

When our blessed Lord had fulfilled his state of 
sorrows and sufferings on earth, and ascended into 
heaven in his glorified human nature, with all the 
scars of honor, and the ensigns of victory about him ; 
w r hen the Lamb ajifteared in the midst of the throne y 
with the marks of slaughter and death upon him, and 
presented himself before God, in the midst of angels 
and ancient patriarchs, with the accomplishment of 
all the types and promises about him, written in let- 
ters of blood ; did not the blessed angels, did not the 
spirits of those patriarchs, learn something- more of 
the mysteries of our redemption, and the wonderous 
glories of the Redeemer, than what they were ac- 
quainted with before I And did not this new glori- 
ous scene spread new ideas, new joys and wonders* 
through all the heavenly world ? Can the principali- 
ties and powers in heavenly places gain by the 
church on earth any farther discoveries of the mani- 
fold wisdom of God ? and can we believe, that when 
Christ, the head of the church, entered into heaven 
in so illustrious a manner, that these powers, prin- 
cipalities, and blessed spirits, got no brighter disco-- 
Yeries of divine wisdom ? To what purpose do the>; 



147 

look and jiry into these things, if after all their 
searches they make no advances in knowledge ? 

And must angels be the only proficients in these 
sublime sciences, while human spirits make no im- 
provement ? 

Can it be supposed, that those ancient fathers, 
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to whom the promises 
were made, that all the nations should be blessed in 
their seed, had no transporting pleasures when they 
first beheld that promised seed crowned with all his 
glory ? when they saw their son Jesus ascending on 
high, and leading captivity captive, and the chariots 
ef God that attended him were twenty thousand, 
even an innumerable company of angels ? 

If upon this occasion we may talk in the language 
of mortals, may we not suppose those ancient fathers 
raising themselves on high, and overlooking the walls 
of paradise, to gaze downward upon this ascending 
triumph ? may we not imagine them speaking thus 
to each other in holy transport ? < And is this our 
great descendant ? Is this our long expected off- 
spring ! How divine his aspect ! How godlike his 
air i How glorious and adorable all the graces of his 
countenance ! Is this (saith holy David) tuy Son and 
my Lord ? The King of Glory, for whose admissioif 
I called the gates of heaven to be lifted up, and 
opened the everlasting doors for him in an ancient 
song ? Is this the man whose hands and whose feet 
they pierced on earth, as I once foretold by the spirit 
of prophecy ? I see those blessed scars of honor; 
how they adorn his glorified limbs ! I acknowledge 
and adore my God and my Saviour. I began his 
triumph once on my harp, in a lower strain, and I 
behold him now ascending on high : Awake, my 
glory, he comes, he comes with the sound of a trum- 
pet, and with the pomp of shouting angels ; sing- 
praises, all ye saints, unto our God, sing praises ? 
sing praises unto our King, sing praises. 

Is this, saith Isaiah, the Child born, of whom I 
spoke ? is this the Son given, of whom I prophesied ? 
I adore him as the mighty God, the Father of ages 5 



148 

ahcl the Prince of Peace. I see the righteous 
Branch, adds the prophet Jeremy, the righteous 
Branch from the stem of David, from the root of 
Jesse. This is the King whom I foretold should 
reign in righteousness : The Lord my Righteousness^ 
is his name. I rejoice at his appearance : the throne 
of heaven is made ready for him. This (saith Daniel) 
is the Messiah, the Prince who was cut off, but not 
for himself: The seventy weeks are all fulfilled, and 
the work is done. He hath finished transgression, 
and made an end of sin, and hath brought in everlast- 
ing righteousness for all his people. 

But was this the person (saith Zachary the proph- 
et) whom they sold for thirty pieces of silver ? Vile 
indignity, and impious madness ! Behold he now ap- 
pears like the man who is fellow or companion to 
the Lord of hosts. It is he, (saith Malachi), it is he, 
the Messenger of the covenant, who came suddenly 
to his own temple. There I held him in my with* 
ered arms, (saith aged Simeon,) and rapture and 
prophecy came upon me at once, and I expired in 
joy and praises.' 

And we hope our mother Eve stood up among the 
^rest of them, and beheld and confessed the promised 
seed of the woman. i Q blessed Saviour, that didst 
break the head of the serpent, though thy heel was 
bruised, and hast abolished the mischief that my fol- 
ly, and his temptation, had brought into thy new 
created world !' 

Now could we ever suppose all this to be done in 
the upper regions, with no new smiles upon the 
countenances of the saints, no special increase of joy 
among the spirits of the just made perfect ? God 
himself stands in no need of the magnificence of 
these transactions : Christ Jesus receives the new 
honors, and all the old inhabitants of heaven taste 
new and unknown satisfaction in the honors they pay 
to their exalted Saviour. 

Some of the ancients were of opinion, that the 
souls of the fathers before the ascension of Christ 
were not admitted into the holy of holies, or th% 



149 

blissful vision of God : but that it was our Lord Je* 
sus, our great High Priest, at his ascent to the throne, 
led the way thither : he rent the veil of the lower 
heaven, and carried with him the armies of patri- 
archal souls into some upper and brighter regions, 
whereas before they were only admitted into a state 
of peace and rest. Whether this be so or no, the 
scripture does not sufficiently declare : but whatso- 
ever region of heaven they were placed in, we may- 
be well assured, from the very nature of things, that 
such transactions as the triumphant ascent of Christ, 
could never pass through any of the upper worlds, 
without enlarging the knowledge and the joy of the 
blessed inhabitants. 

When our Lord Jesus Christ sat down at the right 
hand of God, he prevailed to open the book of divine 
counsels and decrees, and to acquaint himself with 
all the contents : And this was necessary, that he 
might manage and govern the affairs of the church, 
and the world, in the several successive ages, ac- 
cording to the counsels of the Father. He therefore, 
and he alone among creatures, knows the end from 
the beginning, as I hinted before. But as the seals 
of this book are opened by degrees, and the counsels 
of God are executed in the lower world, doubtless 
the angels that are ministers of the providence of 
Christ, carry tidings to heaven of all the great chan- 
ges that relate to the church ; and Jesus the Son of 
God, the King of saints and of nations, receives the 
shouts and honors of the heavenly world, as fast as 
the joyful tidings arrive thither. 

Nor is this spoken ^y mere conjecture ; for the 
scripture informs us of the certainty of it. We have 
frequent accounts in the book of Revelations, of new 
special honors that were paid to him that sits upon 
the throne, and to the Lamb, at certain special pe- 
riods of time. 

, When he first took upon him the execution of his 
Father's decrees, Hie living creatures and elders f til 
down before the Lamb\ and they sung a new sonify 
saying) Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open 
; U * 



150 

the seals thereof ; and ten thousand times ten thou* 
sind angels echoed to' the song with a loud -voice*, 
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, <kc. So when 
the servants of God were sealed in their foreheads^ 
the innumerable multitude of saints shouted, Salva- 
tion to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and to 
the Lamb. So when the seventh angel sounded, there 
were great voices in heaven, saying, the kingdoms of 
this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and 
<*f his Christ, and shall reign forever and ever ; and 
The four and twenty elders fell down upon their 
faces, and worshipped, and gave thanks. Again, 
-when the old dragon and his angels were cast out of 
heaven, there was a loud voice, saying now is come 
salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our God, 
and the power of his Christ ; for the accuser of our 
brethren is cast down. So upon the fall of Babylon, 
and the victory of the saints, and the*final destruction 
of Antichrist, there are new honors done by the 
saints to God the Father, and his Son Jesus. There 
are new songs addressed to them at these surprising 
revolutions on earth, these wonderous turns of judg- 
ment on the world, and mercy to the church ; all 
which supposes that the heavenly inhabitants are ac- 
quainted with them \ and thus their knowledge and 
their joys increase. 

Objection. But does not the prophet Isaiah say in 
the name of the church of Israel, Abraham is igno~ 
rant of us, and Israel acknowledges us not ? 

Answer 1. The words knowledge and acknowledge* 
vient often signify a friendly and beneficial care ma- 
nifested in special acts of kindness, and benefits con- 
ferred. Therefore the tribe of Levi is said neither 
to have seen his father or his mother, nor to ac- 
knowledge his brethren, nor to know his own chil- 
dren, because the sons of Levi slew every man his 
brother, and every man his neighbor, to execute the 
vengeance of the Lord upon them. So Abraham and 
Israel, in heaven, know" not their posterity on earth 
when they approve of the anger of God let out upon 
theiEtj and afford them no defence, This interpre- 



151 

lation perfectly agrees with the context. But it does 
not follow, that Abraham and Israel were utterly- un- 
acquainted with all the greater events of providence 
towards the Jewish nation, though perhaps they 
might not know the lesser and more minute circum- 
stances of their afflictions or their deliverances. 

Answer 2. If we could suppose that the souls of 
the ancient patriarchs were ignorant of the affairs of 
their posterity before the coming of the Messiah, 
yet since Christ in our nature dwells in the midst of 
them, and has taken the book of divine counsels into 
his own hands, since the great God-man rules all 
things in the upper and the lower worlds, it is not 
probable that Abraham and Israel are so ignorant of 
the affairs of the church, as they were in the days 
of Isaiah. 

• And not only the greater and more extensive dis- 
pensations that attend the church on earth, are made 
known to the spirits of the just made perfect, but 
even some lesser and particular concerns are very 
probably revealed to them also. Is it not said, that 
when one sinner on earth re/ients, there is joy among 
the angels in heaven ? For every such convert is a, 
new trophy of divine grace. And when the spirits 
of the just in heaven shall, in successive seasons, 
behold one another of their old relatives and ac- 
quaintance on earth entering in at the gate, and re- 
ceived into heaven, can we imagine there is no new 
joy among them 1 Do the pleasures of angels in- 
crease when they see a man brought into a state of 
grace I and shall not the souls of men testify their 
exultation and delight, when they see one of their 
fellow-souls, perhaps a dear and inward friend, trans- 
lated to the state of glory ? Surely every increase of 
tnat happy world shall diffuse increasing joy through 
the holy ones that dwell in it^ and those shall have 
the sweetest taste of this joy, that had the dearest 
concern in it. O the transporting and celestial gra- 
tulations that pass between two souls of intimate en- 
dearment at their first meeting there I 



152 

The last argument that I shall use, and it is also 
the last instance I shall mention, wherein the know- 
ledge and the pleasure of glorilied saints must re- 
ceive addition and improvement, is, the great res- 
urrection clay. 

The spirits of men are formed on purpose for union 
with bodies ; and if they could attain complete hap- 
piness in the highest degree without them, what 
need would there be of new-creating their bodies 
from the dust ? Upon this supposition the resurrec- 
tion itself must seem to be almost in vain. But it 
is evident from the word of God, that the spirits of 
the just, with all the perfections that belong to a se- 
perate state, wait yet for greater perfection when 
their bodies shall be restored to them ; for as they 
suffered pain and agony in the body, they shall have 
a recompense of pleasure in the body too : All the 
days of their aftfiointed time they wait, till this bles- 
sed change shall come. God shall call, and the dust 
of the saints shall answers God the Creator will have 
a desire again to the works of his own hands, and 
the happy souls will have a desire to be rejoined to 
their old companions. O glorious hour ! O blessed 
meeting-time I A magnificent and divine spectacle, 
worthy to attract the eyes of all the creation ; when 
the long-divided parts of human nature shall be uni- 
ted, with unknown powers and glories 1 when these 
bodies shall be called out of their long dark dungeon-, 
all fashioned anew, and all new dressed in immortal- 
ity and sun-beams ! when these spirits shall assume 
and animate their limbs again, exulting in new life 
and everlasting vigor ! Now, can we suppose it pos- 
sible, that all this vast and amazing change shall be 
made by the awful and illustrious splendors, and so- 
lemnities of the last judgment, by the bodies of mil- 
lions of saints and sinners rising into a painful or 
joyful immortality, and yet no new ideas hereby com- 
municated to the happy spirits, no increase of their 
knowledge, or improvement of their joys ? 

Shall the apostles and the prophets, the confessors 
and the martyrs, stand at the right hand of Christ? 



153 

and be owned and acknowledged by him with divine 
applause in the sight of the whole creation, and yet 
have no new transports of pleasure running through 
their souls ? Shall they be absolved and approved by 
the voice of God, with thousands of applauding an- 
gels, in the face of heaven, earth and hell ; and all 
this without any advancement of their knowledge or 
their blessedness ? Shall St. Paul meet the Thessa- 
lonian converts in the presence of his Lord Jesus 5 
those souls who were once his labor and his hope* 
and shall they not at that day appear to be his glory 
and his joy ? Does not he himself tell them so in his 
first epistle ? And can we believe that he or they 
shall be disappointed ? Shall that great apostle see 
the immense fruits of his labors, the large harvest 
of souls which he gathered from many provinces of 
Europe and Asia, all appearing at once in their robes 
of light and victory, and shall he feel no new inward 
exultations of spirit at such a sight ? And doubtless 
many thousand souls, whom he never knew on earthy 
shall be made known to him at that day, and own 
their conversion to his sacred writings. And shall 
all this make no addition to his pleasures ? The very 
mention of so absurd a doctrine refutes and con- 
demns itself. 

The saints at that day shall, as it were, be brought 
into a new world ; and he that sits upon the throne 
shall make all things new ; and as he crowns his 
happy followers with new and unknown blessings, so 
shall he receive the homage of new and unknown 
praises. 

This is a new heaven and a new earth indeed, be- 
yond all our present apprehensions ; and the mag- 
nificent language of prophecy shall be fulfilled in its 
utmost force and brightness. Doubtless there are 
pleasures to be enjoyed by complete human nature, 
by imbodied souls, which a separate spirit is not ca- 
pable of. 

Is it not part of the blessedness of human spirits 
to enjoy mutual society, and hold a pleasing corres- 
pondence with each other ? But whatsoever be the 



154 

means and methods of that correspondence in a sepa- 
rate state, surely it wants something of that complete 
pleasure, and sensible intimacy, which they shall be 
made partakers of, when they hold noble communion 
in their bodies raised from the dust, and refined from 
every weakness. Is it not the happiness of the saints 
in heaven, to see their glorified Saviour? But even 
this sight is, and must be, incomplete, till they are 
endued with bodily organs again. What converse 
soever the spirits of the just have with the glorified 
man Jesus white they are absent from the body, yet 
I am persuaded it is not, nor can it be, so full and 
perfect in all respects, as it shall be at the general 
resurrection. They cannot now see him face to face 
in the literal sense ; and they wait for this exalted 
pleasure, this immediate and beatific sight. Job him- 
self yet waits, though the worms have destroyed his 
body, till that glorious hour, when in his flesh he shall 
see God, even God his Redeemer, who shall stand at 
the last day on the earth. Not only all the saints on 
earth who have received the first fruits of the spirit, 
wait for the adoption, that is the redemption of the 
body, but the saints in heaven also live there waiting 
till the body be redeemed from the grave, and their 
adoption shall appear with illustrious evidence. Then 
they shall all look like the sons of God, like Jesus, 
the first beloved, and the first born. The spirits 
above, how perfect soever they are in the joys of the 
separate state, yet wait for those endless scenes of 
unknown delight that shall succeed the resurrection. 
And there is abundant reason for it to be drawn 
from the word of God ; for the scripture speaks but 
very little concerning the blessedness of separate 
souls, in comparison of the frequent and large ac- 
counts of the glory and triumph that shall attend the 
sound of the last trumpet, and the great rising day. 
It is to this blessed hour that the apostles in their 
writings are always directing the hope of the saints. 
They are ever pointing to this glorious morning, as 
the season when they shall receive their reward and 
ilieir prize, their promised joy and their crown ; as 



155 

though all they hac4 received before in their state of 
separation, were hardly to be named in comparison 
of that more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. 
What new kinds of sensations shall entertain us in 
that clay, what a rich variety of senses we shall en- 
jo), what well appointed and immortal organs we 
shaii be furnished with, instead of our present feeble 
eyes and ears, and what glorious and transporting 
objects shall surround us in those unknown worlds, 
and fill the enlarged powers of the soul with sensible 
as well as intellectual delights; these are wonders 
too sublime even for cur present conjecture, and are 
all reserved in the counsels of God, to complete the 
final felicity of the saints. 

Thus we have made it appear, that the knowledge 
and joy that belongs to the spirits of the just made 
perfct, may admit of large increase. 

But can their holiness be increased too? Can per- 
fect holiness receive any improvement ? 

I will not assert any thing in this matter, lest the 
manner of expression should offend weaker minds ; 
but I desire leave to inquire, whether those who know 
most of God, do not iove him best ? whether those 
who have the brightest and fullest visions of him, are 
not most transformed into his image, and made most 
nearly like to him ? Now if the separate spirits in 
heaven are advanced to different degrees of divine 
knowledge, may they not in this sense have different 
degrees of holiness too ? 

Is it not possible that one saint should love God 
more intensely than another, and be more impressed 
with his likeness, as he beholds more of his glory I 
Js it not possible that a soul shall grew in the strength 
and fervor of its love and zeal for God, and be more 
exactly assimilated to him, as it gets nearer to God 2 
and grows up into higher measures of acquaintance 
with him ? Has not the Angel Gabriel, the Apostle 
Paul, and the glorified human nature of Christ, in 
any respect more of holiness, or love, or likeness to 
God, than the meanest saint or angel in heaven ? Is 
iiot their sublimer knowledge and nearness to God 



156 

attended with proportionable rays of divine sanctity 
and glory ? Is not the divine image in these exalted 
saints more complete than in the very lowest ? 

And yet we may boldly assert, that the meanest 
saint or angel there is so perfect in holiness, as to 
be free from all sin. There is nothing to be found 
in any spirit there contrary to the nature or the will 
of God. So a soul released from the body may per- 
haps grow in likeness and love to God perpetually, 
and yet it may have no sinful defects, either in its 
love or conformity to God, from the first moment of 
its entrance into heaven. 

I shall illustrate this by two similitudes, and then 
propose a rational and clear account of it in a way of 
argument. 

When the distant morning-sun shines on a piece 
of polished metal, the metal reflects the face of the 
sun in perfection when the sun first rises on it ; but 
the same instrument coming directly under the me- 
ridian sun-beams, shall reflect the same image 
brighter and warmer ; and yet every moment of this 
reflection from the morning to the highest noon, 
shall be perfect ; i. e. without spot, without blemish, 
and without defect. Such perhaps is the holiness 
of all the saints in heaven. 

Or shall I rather borrow a similitude from scrip- 
ture, and say, the holiness of the saints in heaven is 
compared to fine linen ? The fine linen clean and 
white is the righteousness of the saints. Now though 
a garment may be perfectly clean, without the least 
spot or stain, yet fine linen may grow whiter hourly, 
as it is bleached by the constant influence of the 
heavens. So though every spirit be perfectly clean- 
sed and purified from all sin and defilement, yet it 
is not impossible that the degrees of its grace and 
holiness, or conformity to God, may grow brighter, 
and much improve, by nearer approaches to God, 
longer ctcquaintance with him, and the continued 
influences of his majesty and love. 

Now let me propose a rational account of this 
matter to the consideration of those whose minds are 
raised above common prejudices, 



157 

The holiness of an innocent creature consists in 
attaining the knowledge of the nature and will of 
God, according to the utmost of its own present ea.- 
pacity, and the means of discovery which it enjoys, 
and in the various exercises of love to God in m; «-x- 
act proportion to its knowledge : or, to express it 
briefly thus, An innocent creature ih perfectly holy 
when it knows and loves God to the utmost reach of 
its present powers. If this be done, there is no sin- 
fui defect, no guilty imperfection; and yet there" 
may be almost an infinite difference in the various 
degrees of power and capacity, of knowledge and 
love, among innocent spirits. 

One spirit may be formed capable of knowing 
much more of his Maker than another, and may be 
favoured with richer discoveries. Now if every 
new divine discovery, raises an equal proportion of 
love in the soul, then it is possible that any soul 
might be perfectly holy at its first entrance into 
heaven, and yet make sublime advances in holiness 
hourly. 

Can we suppose that innocent Adam, at his first 
formation in paradise, knew all the wonders of divine 
wisdom and goodness that ever he was designed to 
attain, had he lived sinless and immortal ? Ann then 
can we believe, since his knowledge of his Maker's 
goodness and wisdom was to receive continual ad- 
vances, that he should admire him no more, and 
love him no better, after a thousand years converse 
•with him, than he did at his first creation ? Now the 
case of the saints in heaven is much the same. The 
rule and measure of their duty, is their knowledge, 
and the rule and measure of their knowledge, is 
their own capacity, and their means of discovery. 
They never fall short of their duty, and therefore 
they have no sin : and thus their holiness may be 
every moment perfect, and yet, perhaps, every mo- 
ment increasing as their capacities are enlarged, 
and receive new discoveries, through ail the ages of 
their immortality. Happy sou's, whose aspiring 
knowledge, and love, and zeal, move onward hourly, 
1,5 



158 

and yet still nigher to their God ! Surely while they 
behold his face in the unveiled beauties of his holi- 
ness, they shall love him with warmer zeal, and be 
more abundantly satisfied with his likeness. After 
all that I have said on this subject, some will insist 
on this objection, viz. Can there be any such thing 
as imperfection in heaven ? Is it not said to be a 
perfect state ? Now if the spirits above be always 
growing in excellency and holiness, they are always 
defective and eternally imperfect ; which is very- 
hard to suppose concerning the saints in glory, and 
contrary to the very expression and letter of my text. 

The answer to this is very easy, to all that will 
give their reason leave to exercise itself upon just 
ideas, and to think and argue beyond the chime of 
words. 

Perfection (as I told you before) is not to be tak- 
en here in an absolute, but in a comparative sense. 
Nothing is absolutely perfect but God; and in com- 
parison of God, the highest and most exalted of all 
creatures, is, and will be, eternally defective : The 
heavens are not pure in his sight) and he charges his 
angels with folly. Even the man Christ Jesus shall 
for ever fall short of the perfection of the divine na- 
ture, to which he is united, and in this sense will be 
imperfect for ever. 

But where any creature has attained to such exalt- 
ed degrees of excellency as are far superior to what 
others have attained, it is the custom of the scrip- 
ture to call them perfect, and that with a design to 
do honor to their character. So Noah was a just 
man, and perfect in his generation. Job also has this 
hon®r done him, He was perfect and upright. And 
the saints on earth are called perfect in many parts 
of the word of God, even while they are here on 
earth, and have many defects and imperfections. So 
though it be literally true, that the saints in heaven 
are continually imperfect, in comparison of God and 
Christ, and of what they themselves shall further at- 
tain ; yet the scripture, which delights to do honor 
lo them, chooses rather to call them perfect, because 



159 

of the sublime degree of excellencies they possess 
above their fellow saints on earth : and it is not fit 
for us to degrade them in our common language, by 
the diminishing and abasing names of drfect and i?n- 
fierfsction, though their present perfection and ex- 
cellency admits of everlasting increase. 

If any man, after he has read this treatise thus far, 
and has duly weighed all the former arguments, can 
see force enough in this last objection to bafRe or 
destroy them all, or can find terror enough in the 
mere sound of the word imfierfect to forbid his as- 
sent, I desire he may not be disturbed in the posses- 
sion of his own sentiments, till the sweet and sur- 
prising sensations of ever-growing felicity convince 
him, that heaven is a place of glorious improvement. 

This shall suffice for the third general head of my 
discourse, wherein I have shewn, that the perfection 
of the spirits of the just is such a perfection as ad- 
mits of a rich variety of employments and pleasures? 
according to the various taste and inclination of the 
blessed ; it allows of their different degrees of feli- 
city, according to their different capacities and pre- 
parations ; it furnishes each blessed spirit with a fre- 
quent change of pleasures, and it gives room for per- 
petual increase. 

We have pass'd by the angels and left them a won? 
dering, 
In viewing the wonderful works of our God ! 
While in heaven he is smiling, in heil he is thun- 
dering, 
On earth he is washing us in his rich blood J 

The angels again. 

Why do they look and pry, 
Into these heavenly mysteries, 

Why do they stoop and fly, 

To read those awful histories ? 

If after all their searches, 
They gain no further light ; 



160 

And in their heavenly marches, 
They're left in total night ? 

The sfiirits of the just made jierfect. 

The spirits of the just, are freed from every lust* 

And every worldly care ; 
They are gone above, to taste Christ's love. 
To sing his praise, to endless days. 

And shout Redemption there. 

The Patriarchs. 

The Patriarchs bold and strong, 
Have followed Christ among, 

The millions of the sky; 
Where they shall shout his praise, 
In everlasting lays, 

And never, never die ! 

What bodies the saints shall come up with from dust. 
For glitter and shine and sparkle they must ! 
With their Saviour-like beauty each person appears, 
While their bright whiten'd robes dispel all their 
fears. 

But amazing difference there will be, 

At Christ's return we all shall see. 

My fourth and last inquiry is this, How do these 
good spirits of just men arrive at this perfection ? I 
answer, by the death of the body, and their departure 
from flesh and blood. 

You will ask, what reasons are there, why their de- 
parture from the body should bring them into this 
perfect state ? 

I will content myself to mention these four. 

1. Because at death their state of trial is ended, 
and the time of recompense begins by divine ap- 
pointment : now ail their imperfections must en*J 
with their state qf trial. 



lit 

This is the account of things in the scripture : It 
is appointed for all men once to die, and after death 
the judgment. At the hour of death those words 
are spoken aloud in the most dreadful or de- 
lightful language. He that is unjust or filthy, let 
him be so still : He that is righteous and holy, let him 
he so still. And then upon the determination of the 
state, the reward or recompense follows : My re- 
ward is with me, to give to every man according as 
his work shall be. 

Many inconveniences, and imperfections, and dif- 
ficulties, are proper for a stale of trial, and by these 
methods we are trained up for glory. Christ him- 
self was ignorant of many things in the day of his 
trial ; his knowledge on earth was imperfect, and 
his joys were so too : for he grew in wisdom and 
knowledge, he was a man of sorrows and acquainted 
with grief. Though he were a Son, yet he learned 
obedience by the things that he suffered, and the 
Captain of our salvation was made perfect through 
sufferings. But when the time of probation and suf- 
fering ceases, then perfection is come, and glory 
appears. Hail, blessed spirits above, you have pass- 
ed your state of trial well ! You have run the labo- 
rious race under many burdens, and you have re- 
ceived the prize. You have fought with mighty en- 
emies, you have overcome a thousand difficulties, 
and you enjoy the crown. No more shall you com- 
plain of the mixture of error with your knowledge, 
no more shall you groan under the perplexities of 
thought, the tumults of passion, the burdens of in- 
dwelling iniquity, nor cry out because of oppressing 
enemies or sorrows. The hour of your trial is fin- 
ished. You have been sincere and faithful in your 
imperfect services, and you are arrived at the world 
of perfection. 

2. At the hour of death the spirits of the just 
leave all the natural and the sinful infirmities of 
ilesh and blood behind them, which ^re the causes 
and springs of a thousand imperfections. 
15 * 



162 

The very natural circumstances and necessities of 
the body, and the inconveniences that attend it iti 
this trail state, do very much embarrass and clog the 
spirit in its pursuit of knowledge, or holiness, or di- 
vine joy. 

The flesh is a dark covering to the soul ; it be- 
clouds our ideas, confuses our conceptions, and pre- 
sents a clear and distinct knowledge of a thousand 
objects. It is a dull dark tabernacle for a spirit's 
residence. It has windows indeed to let in light, 
but those very windows, like pointed or curled glass ? 
too ofte ■•.i.discoiour the objects, or distort the shape 
of them. These very senses of ours frequently im- 
pose upon us in the searches after truth,- and repre- 
sent things not as they are in themselves, and in 
their own nature, but as they are useful and hurtful 
to us ; and often we pass a false judgment on the 
nature of things by their influence, and are led into 
many mistakes in our inquiries after knowledge. 

Our fancy or imagination raises up false images 
of things, and we forsake the solid and real truth, to 
follow the shapes, and colours, and appearances of it ? 
painted upon fancy. 

From our very infancy, our souls are imposed upon 
by the animal ; we draw in early many false judg- 
ments, and establish them daily. We are nursed up 
in prejudice against a hundred truths, both in the 
philosophical, the moral, and the religious life ; and 
it is the labor of an age, even for a wise and good 
man, to wear off a few of them, and to judge with 
any tolerable freedom, evidence and certainty. 

A great part of our life is spent in sleep, wherein 
the soul is bound up from exerting any regular 
thoughts, confined every night to a periodical delir- 
ium, subjected to all the fluttering tyranny of the an- 
imal spirits, and dragged away into all the wild wan- 
derings of dreaming nature ; and indeed, the thoughts 
of many of us always, and all of us sometimes, even, 
when we are awake, are but little better ; because 
we perpetually dance after the motions of passion 
and fancy, and our* rcasen seldsra judges without 



163 

them, Alas! how imperfect are the best of us ' in 
knowledge here ! 

But knowledge is not the only good, of which the 
body deprives the spirit. The necessities of the bo- 
dy, hunger and thirst, weakness and weariness, and 
drowsy spirits, sit very heavy upon the soul, and hin- 
der it in the pursuit of holy and heavenly thoughts, 
break off many a divine meditation, and interrupt 
and spoil many a delightful piece of worship. In 
sickness, or in old age, What long and weighty trou- 
bles, what tiresome infirmities clog the soul, and 
what restless pains of nature overwhelm the spirit 3 
and forbid the lively exercises of devotion, 

And then also the sinful appetites and perverse 
affections of nature are very much seated in flesh and 
blood ; so much, that the apostle in many places calls 
the principles of sin by the general name ofjlesh* 
Read the latter end of the seventh chapter of his 
epistle to the Romans. How doth he complain of 
the flesh, and members of the body, which are fatal 
instruments of sin and Satan ! Read the black cata- 
logue of iniquities, and hear them called the works 
of the flesh. Pride, and malice, and envy, and lust* 
and covetousness, aad wrath, and revenge, are found 
secretly working in liesh and blood. O how much 
are the springs of these sinful evils seated in the ve- 
ry composition of depraved animal nature I And how 
is the poor laboring spirit of a saint dreadfully be- 
trayed thereby into frequent and actual guilt, even 
notwithstanding all its care and watchfulness ! O 
wretched men that we are ! who shall deliver us ? 
Blessed be God, there is a time of release. 

And as our knowledge and our holiness are ren- 
dered very imperfect, by reason of trese sensible 
and corrupt engines of flesh and blood, so are the joys 
and satisfactions of the soul perpetually impaired and 
diminished hereby. 

The heart of the saint is in pain to feel sin work- 
ing in it, and the conscience complains under the 
anguish of guilt. Blessed be God for the balm that 
is found in the blood of Christ to ease the anguish of 
conscience, 



164 

Besides, what spirit can enjoy perfect peace, while 
it is tied to so many thousand nerves, each of which 
may become an instrument of intense pain and tor- 
ture ? 

And the body itself has sharp humours enough in 
it to corrode those nerves, and fill the indwelling 
spirit with agonies. What millions of seeds of 
painful disease lurk in animal nature, that render 
this body a most uncomfortable dwelling ! and how 
many thousand strokes and accidents are we liable 
to from abroad, whence new pains and sorrows are 
derived to the soul ! The wind and weather, the rain 
and the hail, and the scorching sun, the air, the water 
and fire, and every element may afflict the animal, 
and pain the unhappy spirit. 

But O happy souls that are free from all the cum- 
bersome and mischievous influences of flesh and 
blood ! from these instruments of iniquity, and springs 
of deadly guilt and torment! Happy souls, that are 
released from sick and languishing bodies, from 
feeble and burdensome limbs, and all the tiresome 
and painful disorders of dying nature ! that are rais- 
ed beyond the reach and injury of all these lower el- 
ements, these mediums of disease and pain ! Rejoice 
and triumph, ye prisoners newly discharged ; ye 
feel the pleasurable truths that we guess at, but ye 
feel and enjoy them with a relish of sublime pleas- 
ure beyond all our conjectures. Rejoice and exult 
in your new liberty, like a bird released from the 
imprisoning cage, and sing with sweetest notes to 
the praise of your Redeemer. O worship and serve 
him in the fuil freedom of all your active powers; 
attend at his feet with intense delight, and love him 
with joy unsfteakable a?idfull of glory. 

3. By the death of the body, and their release from 
it, these spirits of the just are free from all the 
tempting powers, and the sinful influences of earth 
and hell. 

This world of sensible allurements, and this world 
of sinful men, hath a mighty influence on the spirits 
of the saints while they dwell in flesh and blood, 



165 

ilow often are we deceived into practices of iniquity 
by the enticing vanities of this life ! how often 
tempted by evil companions, by flattering mischiefs 
and ensnaring circumstances ! and many times too 
the fear of men, and the terror of their threatenings, 
fright us to a neglect of duty, or hurry us into the 
commission of some active iniquity. Sometimes the 
pleasing enjoyments of life tie our hearts to the 
creature by the bands of excessive love ; and seme- 
times the injuries and reproaches we receive from 
them, kindle our fiery passions, and rouse up our 
sinful wrath and revenge. 

This world also is much under the evil influences 
of the prince of darkness ; he is called the god of 
this world : It is greatiy given up to the ravages of 
the roaring lion, and he worries the spirits of the 
saints while they dwell within his territories, though 
he is not suffered to destroy and devour them. 

But at the moment of death, the happy spirit is 
released from the senses, and thereby from the im- 
pressions of all sensible things. All the flattering 
vanities of this lower world, have no more power to 
entice the soul, than the grossest sensualities could 
entice a pure angel. Sinful companions can no 
more invite, and threatening tyrants have no more 
power to terrify. 

The spirit is then got out of the territories of Sa- 
tan ; he is the jirince of the power of the air, but his 
dominion reaches no farther. The heaven where 
Christ is never admits him. Michael with his angcU 
hath cast out the old dragon and his angels y and there 
is no more place found for them there- Happy 
spirits, delivered and secured fiom the devil and 
the world at once, and from all their tempting and 
destructive influences ! 

Now when a sanctified soul is thus released both 
from its union to sinful flesh and blood, and from all 
possible assaults of the powers of earth and hell, it 
may be worth our inquiry, whether this release be. 
not sufficient of itself to render the work of sanctifi- 
cation complete; and bring it to a state of perfection^ 



166 

supposing still the ordinary concurrence or influence 
of the sanctifying spirit ? or, whether there must be 
any immediate almighty and present change wrought 
in the soul by a new and extraordinary influence of 
the blessed Spirit, at the very moment of death, by 
which sanctification is at once completed? Which 
of these is true, I know not. I confess this last has 
generally been the opinion of our Protestant writers ; 
and perhaps it may be the truth : but the scripture 
is silent. 

Who can tell therefore, whether a holy soul, that 
bath received the divine seed of grace, which is cal- 
led the Divine nature, and is regenerated, and re- 
newed, and sanctified, by the Holy Spirit, hath not all 
its remaining sins and imperfections owing to its 
bonds of sinful flesh and blood ? and whether its 
compliance with so many temptations, is not to be at- 
tributed to its close attachments to corrupt animal 
nature and sensible things ? and therefore, whether 
this sanctified nature would not become completely 
free from sin, when it is freed from all the influence 
of a tempting body and a tempting world ? Whether 
the divine bent and bias that is given it by the spirit 
of God at first conversion, and by which it maintains 
continual opposition to sinful flesh, would not make 
its own way toward perfection without new and ex- 
traordinary operations ? Whether this would not be 
sufficient to cause the soul forever to ascend natural- 
ly toward God in desire, and love, and delight, when 
all clogs aad embarrassments are removed? So a 
vessel filled with upper air, and dragged down by 
some heavy weight to the bottom of the sea, labors 
and wrestles with the uneasy burden, and hath a per- 
petual tendency towards this upper region; but if 
the weight be once taken off, it immediately of itself 
rises through the water, and never ceases its motion 
till it comes to the surface. 

I confess this is a nicer speculation, and of doubt- 
ful evidence ; though when St. Paul lays his sinful 
compliances and captivity so much»to the charge of 
his flesh and members, in the seventh chapter to the 



167 

Romans, and in other pUces of his writings, one 
would be ready to think St. Paul was of this opinion- 
However, this we are sure of, that a sanctified soul 
released from the body shall be made free from every 
sin, ana its absence fiom flesh and the world have a 
large, if nut a sufficient influence to effect this free- 
dom. 

And if we should grant it, that a soul just dismis- 
sed from this world is not perfectly sanctified by the 
mere influence of this release ; yet this perfection is 
sufficiently secured by ics dismission fiom flesh ; -for 
when absent from the body, it is present with the 
Lord. And this leads me to the next particular, viz, 

4. At death the spirits of the just, released from 
bodies, enter into another state, a different world, 
where they have a thousand advantages for improve- 
ment in knowledge, and advances in holiness and joy, 
vastly beyond what any thing in this world could 
furnish them with. They see God, and are forever 
with him. 

They behold him face to face, as I have before ex- 
plained it, in a more immediate and intuitive man- 
ner ; and doubtless such a sight fills the spirit with 
a clearer and brighter idea of the nature and attri- 
butes of God, than all the former lessons it had learn- 
ed in the books of nature and of scripture could 
give it. 

They see our Lord Jesus Christ, our glorified Sa- 
viour in such a way and manner as glorified separate 
spirits can converse with. spirits embodied ; and one 
such a view as this will perhaps lead us into more 
intimate acquaintance with his human nature and 
his united Godhead, than many years of converse 
with him by all the mediums of ordinances, those 
divine glasses wherein we see him darkly, (as the 
apostle speaks), and whereby God and Christ mani- 
fest themselves to saints on earth. 

And as our knowledge shall receive immense and 
surprising improvements by these new methods of 
discovery, so I think it shail in due proportion ad- 
vance our holiness, or conformity to God -the Father, 



168 

•and his brightest image Christ Jesus ; for we cannot 
behold them in such a manner without a glorious 
transformation into their likeness, as I have hinted 
already. 

When a soul that hath a new nature given it by 
sanctifying grace, is placed in the immediate view 
and presence of God the most Holy, it will ever be 
growing into a greater degree of nearness and love, 
and it will be powerfully changed more and more 
into the likeness of God himself; as a needle, when 
placed within the reach of a loadstone's attractive 
power, ceases not its motion till it be joined in per- 
fect union, and itself acquires the virtues of that 
wonderful mineral. 

Nor is it possible in heaven that we should advance 
In knowledge and holiness without an equal improve- 
ment In felicity and joy. On earth indeed we are 
told, He that will live godly , shall suffer fiersecution ; 
and He that increases knowledge increases sorrow^ 
But as heaven is high above the earth, so are the 
customs and the blessings of that state superior to 
this : for there are no present sorrows to be known, 
nor any future to be feared ; and holiness has no en^ 
emy there. All things round the saint shall have a 
tendency to promote his blessedness. 

The spirit of a good man released from the bedy 
and ascending to heaven, is surrounded with thou- 
sands and ten thousands of blessed spirits of the hu- 
man and angelic order. When it gets within the 
confines of the heavenly country, it sweetly and in- 
sensibly acquires the genius and temper of the in- 
habitants ; it breathes, as it were, a new air, and 
lives, and thinks, and acts just as they do ; it shines 
and burns with new degrees of knowledge, zeal, and 
love, and exults in the transporting communications 
of the same joy. 

How vastly shall our understandings be improved 
by the kind narratives and instructions of the saints 
that arrived at heaven before us, and by converse 
with the ministering angels ! 



169 

You will say perhaps, that we shall have no need 
of their teaching when we get to heaven, for we shall 
get near to God himself, and receive all immediately 
from him. 

But hath the scripture any where excluded the 
assistance of our fellow-spirits ? God can teach us 
here on earth immediately by his own spirit, without 
the use of books and letters, without the help of 
prophets and ministers, men of like pasnons with 
ourselves ; and yet he chooses rather to do it in an 
instrumental way, and makes his creatures in the 
lower world the means of our instruction under the 
superior influence of his own spirit : and why may 
he not use the same methods to communicate know- 
ledge to the spirits that newly arrive at that tipper 
world ? 

There we shall see the patriarchs of the old world, 
and prophets of the old dispensation, as well as the 
apostles and evangelists of Christ and his gospel. 
There we shall be conversant with those blessed 
angels whom he has used as ministers of his ven- 
geance, or his mercy, to persons or churches, fami- 
lies and nations : and they will not be unwilling to 
inform' us of these great and surprising transactions 
of God with men. 

There we shall find a multitude of other eminent 
saints before and after Christ. 

Adam doubtless will take a peculiar pleasure in 
acquainting all his happy posterity with the special 
forms and terms of the covenant of innocency ; he 
shall tell us the nature of the trees of knowledge, 
and of life, and how fatally he fell, to the ruin of his 
unborn offspring. Unhappy father, deriving iniqui- 
ty and death down to his children I But with what 
immense satisfaction and everlasting surprise, he 
views the second Adam, his Son and his Saviour, and 
stands in adoration and transport, while he beholds 
millions of his seed that he once ruined, now raised 
to superior glories above the promises of the lav/ of 
f works, by the intervening influence of a Mediator I 
Enoch, the man that walked with God, and Elijah, 
16^ 



170 

the great reformer, shall instruct us how they were 
translated to heaven, and passed into a blessed im° 
mortality without calling at the gates of death. 

Noah will relate to his sons among the blessed, 
what was the wickedness of the old world before the 
flood, that provoked God their Maker to drown them 
ail: he shall entertain us with the wonders of the 
ark, and the covenant of the rainbow in all its glori- 
ous colours. Abraham, the father of the faithful, 
and the friend of God, shall talk over again with us 
his familiar converse with God and angels in their 
frequent apparitions to him, and shall tell us how 
much the promised seed transcends all the poor low 
ideas he had of him in his obscure age of prophecy. 
For we cannot suppose that all intimate converse 
with our father Abraham shall be forbidden us, by 
any of the laws or manners of that heavenly country, 
since heaven itself is described by our sitting down 
as at one table with Abraham, and dwelling in his 
bosom. There Paul and Moses shall join together 
to give us an account of the Jewish law, and read 
wonderous and entertaining lectures on the types 
and figures of that economy, and still lead our 
thoughts to the glorious antitype, with surprising 
encomiumns of the blessed Jesus. 

Paul shall unfold to us the dark places of his own 
writings, better than he himself' once understood 
them : and Moses shall become an interpreter of his 
own law, who knew so little of the mystery and beau- 
ty of it on earth himself. 

There we shall acquaint ourselves with some of 
the ancient fathers of the Christian church, and the 
martyrs, those dying champions of the faith and 
honours of the Christian name. They will recount 
the various providences of God to the church in 
their several ages, and show the visions of St. John, 
In the book of the Revelations, not in the morning 
twilight of prophecy, but as in the light of noon, as 
a public history, or as an evening rehearsal of the 
transactions of the day. The witnesses themselves 
shall tell us how they prophesied in sackcloth^ and 



171 

V/ere slain by the man of sin ; how they rose from 
the dead in three days and a half, and how the church 
was at last reformed from the Popish mysteries of 
iniquity and superstition* Cranmer and Ridley, 
Calvin and Luther, and the rest of the pious reform- 
ers, shall make known to us the labours and suffer- 
ings of their age, and the wonders of pure Chris- 
tianity, rising as it were out of the grave, and throw- 
ing off the chains, the darkness and defilements of 
Antichrist : And those holy souls who laboured in 
the reformation of Great Britain, while they relate 
the transactions of their day, shall perhaps inquire 
and wonder why their successors put a stop to that 
blessed work, and have made no further progress in 
a hundred and fifty years. 

Did one of the eiders near the throne give notice 
to the Apostle John concerning the martyrs, lliese 
are they which came out of great tribulation, and 
have washed their robes, and made them white in the 
blood of the Lamb ; and shall we not suppose, that 
the happy spirits above tell one another their victo- 
ries over sin and temptation, and the powers of this 
world ? Shall not the martyrs who triumphed in their 
own blood and overcame Satan and Antichrist/^ the 
blood of the Lamb, and the word of their testimony, 
§hall they not make it known to the inhabitants of the 
upper world, and tell it to the honor of Christ, their 
Captain, and their King, how they fought, aud dkdj 
and conquered ? Meihinks I hear these noble histo- 
rians rehearsing their sacred tragedy : how they en- 
tertain a bright circle of listening angels and fellow- 
spirits with their own glorious and dreadful story, 
dreadful to suffer, and glorious to relate ! 

Shall it be objected here, that all the glorified 
saints cannot be supposed to maintain immediate 
discourse with those blessed ancients ? Can those 
ancients be imagined to repeat the same stories per- 
petually afresh, to entertain every stranger that is 
newly arrived at heaven ? 

I answer, that since one single spirit dwelling in 
flesh can communicate his thoughts immediately to 



172 

five or six thousand hearers at once by his veriee? 
and to millions more successively by books and 
writings, it is very unreasonable to suppose, that 
spirits made perfect, and glorified, have not a power 
of communicating their thoughts to many more 
thousands by immediate converse : and it is past our 
reach to conceive what unknown methods may be in 
use among them, to transmit their ideas and narra- 
tives in a much swifter succession, than by books 
and writings, through all the courts of heaven, and 
to inform all the new comers, without putting each 
happy spirit to the everlasting labor of a tiresome 
repetition. 

Though every saint in heaven should not be ad- 
mitted to immediate and speedy converse with those 
spirits of renown in past ages, yet doubtless these 
glorious minds have communicated their narratives, 
and the memoirs of their age, to thousands of that 
blessed world already, and from them we may re- 
ceive a repetition of the same wonders with faithfulr 
Jiess and exact truth. History and chronology are 
no precarious and uncertain sciences in that coun- 
try. _ 

It is very probable, indeed, that we shall have 
more intimate nearness to, and more familiar com- 
munion with, those spirits that were of the same age 
and place with ourselves, and of the same church or 
family ; for we can more delightfully expatiate in 
our converse with them about the same providences, 
and the same methods of grace, and agreeably enter- 
tain and improve each other with notices of the af- 
fairs of the upper and lower worlds. 

Nor must we suppose such sort of historical con- 
verse among the blessed spirits, is merely designed 
to fill the mind with new and strange ideas. This 
pleasure, considered by itself, is not sacred enough 
for the spirits of the just made perfect. There is 
not a narrative in the world, but shall disclose some 
wonderous instances of divine wisdom or mercy, 
power or faithfulness, patience and forgiveness, or 
wrath and justice. The speaker shall feel the work- 



173 

ings of all proper reverence, zeal, and love ; and ev- 
ery hearer shall be impressed with correspondent 
affections, and join in adoration and holy wonder. 

And while we speak of the means and advantages 
that glorified spirits enjoy, for their- improvement in 
all the parts of their felicity, surely we may expect 
the greatest and the best assistances, even those of 
the Holy Spirit, to render all these means more ef- 
fectual. Is he not promised to abide with us, to be 
in us, and dwell with us forever ? Is he not repre- 
sented as dwelling in the spirits of the just mi de 
perfect, when it is said, The spirit that dwelleth in 
them shall raise their mortal bodies from the. dead ? 
May we not then reasonably infer, that that glorious 
Spirit, who hath been our eniightener, our comforter, 
and our sanctifier on earth, will be our pei netual 
eniightener, our eternal sanctifier, and our evcrlan- 
nig comforter ? He that hath so wonderfully bee-im 
the divine work in us, and laid foundations of jov in 
knowledge and holiness, will he not finish and per- 
fect his own work, and add the topstone to crown 
the heavenly building ? * 

O blessed state of spirits discharged from the pri- 
son of flesh and this world ! this wicked world 
where Satan the evil spirit has so wide a ran»e, and 
so poisonous an influence, and where sinful m^n 
swarm on every side, and bear the largest sway ! 
What divine advantages are you possessed of, for 
the improvement of all your sacred excellencies, md 
joys ! When we can raise our thoughts a little, and 
survey your privileges, we feel somewhat of an in- 
ward wish to dwell among you, and send a breathing- 
meditation, or a glance of warm desire, towards your 
world and your society. We poor prisoner spirits, 
when we hear such tidings from the country at which 
you are arrived, we stretch out our win^s a little 
and are ready to wish for the flight. But God our 
sovereign must appoint the hour ; he sees that we 
are not yet refined enough. Keep our souls, O 
father, m this erect posture, looking, reaching, and 
longing for the celestial world, till thou hist cdm- 
16 * 



174 

pletely prepared us for the promised glory, and then 
give us the joyful word of dismission. 

Thus I have endeavored to make it appear on 
what accounts a dismission from the body is both 
the season when, and the means whereby, the spirits 
of the just arrive at this perfection. Their state of 
trial is ended at death, and therefore all inconveni- 
ences and imperfections must cease by divine ap- 
pointment. By death the soul is released from all 
the troublesome and tempting influences of flesh and 
blood ; it is delivered from this sinful world, it is 
got beyond the reach of Satan the tempter and the 
tormentor, and it is surrounded with a thousand ad- 
vantages for improvement in knowledge, holiness, 
and joy. 

Enoch and Elijah both went up to heaven, 

Their journey so swift, their chariot so strong ; 

And with the Apostles perhaps they are even, 
Their wonders were great, their triumphs arc 
long. 

On fiery wheels of shining bliss, 
They rode aloft beyond the skies ; 

For they have gone where Jesus is, 
Where the bright cherub swiftly flies* 

Translated mortals soar above, 

And speak Christ's name in endless praise 5 
Immanuel is endless love, 

Then shout it everlasting days. 

The wonders of the cloud, 

And wonders of the rainbow ; 
The wonders of the flood, 

And wonders of the rain too, 
Shall fill our souls with sweet amaze^ 
While we on heavenly riches gaze : 
And with seraphic ardor blaze, 
knd from our minds all fears erase. 

Of our eternal woe> 



175 

Abram the wise, the holy and prayerful. 

And the great friend of God ; 
The great the father of the faithful, 

Is washed in Christ's blood. 

He too, shall tell us of his holy apparitions, 
His wonderful doubts and wonderful decisions ; 
Bright angels the instruments to tell him the same ? 
And all of it back'd with the Eternal I AM. 

Paul and Moses both shall join, 

And each their sacred souls combine, 

To read the Jewish law ; 
Such wond'rous lectures bright and clear^ 
From darkness, doubt, and sin and fear, 

On earth we never saw. 

Are the spirits of the just made perfect at the 
death of the body ? then we may be assured that 
they neither die nor sleep : for sleep and death are 
both inconsistent with this state of perfection whicb 
I have described. 

The dead saints are not lost nor extinct. They 
are not perished out of God's world, though they are 
gone from ours. They are no more in the world 
that is enlightened by the sun and moon, and the 
glimmering stars ; but they themselves shine glo- 
riously, like stars of different magnitude, in the world 
where there is no sun, nor is there anij need of the 
moon to shine in it, for the glory of God enlightens 
it, and the Lamb is the everlasting light thereof 

They are lost from earth, but they are found in 
heaven. They are dead to us at present ; but they 
are alive to God their Father, and to Jesus their Sa- 
viour ; they are alive to the holy angels, and to all 
their fellow-saints, in that upper world. 

If there had been any such thing as a soul sleep- 
ing or dying, our Saviour would never have argued 
thus with the Sadducees, nor have proved the doc- 
trine of the resurrection from the doctrine of the se- 
parate state of souls : It is as if he had said, Abra- 



176 

ham, Isaac and Jacob, are dead long ago ; but God is 
the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, still : Now 
God is not the God of the dead, but the God of the 
living ; therefore the souls of those patriarchs are 
yet alive ; for they all live to God in the separate 
state, and they shall appear in their complete human 
nature, soul and body, at the resurrection. This is 
the language and the force of our Saviour's argu- 
ment, and therefore I must believe the soul of Abra- 
ham is alive now. 

When Jesus promises the penitent thief upon the 
cross, This day shall thou be with vie in paradise ; 
can we persuade ourselves that he intended no more 
than that the thief should be with him in the grave, 
or in a state of indolence and insensibility ? Does he 
not assure him in these words, that there is a state 
of happiness for spirits dismissed from the body, 
v/hither the soul of our Lord Jesus was going, and 
where the dying penitent should find him ? 

So when the inndel Jews stoned Stephen, the first 
martyr, while he expressed his faith and hope in 
these words, Lord Jesus, receive ray spirit '; was 
this spirit of his to be laid asleep till the resurrec- 
tion ? Can we suppose the dying saint would have 
made such a request upon so lethargic a principle, 
and in the view of such a stupid state ? No, surely ; 
for he expected, and desired, and prayed, to be re- 
ceived to dwell where Christ is, and to behold that 
glory which he had a glimpse of in the agonies of 
death. 

Would the Apostle Paul have been so willing to 
be absent from the body, where he did much service 
for his Saviour, if he had not a joyful view of being 
present with the Lord ? as he expresses it. What 
doth he mean by this blessed language of presence 
with the Lord, if his soul was to lie asleep in a sense- 
less and inactive state till the second coming of Jesus? 
Or would he have told the Philippians that he had a 
desire to defiart, and to be with Christ, which is far 
better, if he had hoped for no advantage for his spi- 
rit by it, but a mere stupid indolence and rest in the 
silent grave ? 



177 

Besides, we are told of rebellious spirits that are 
in prison, and of Sodom and Gomorrah suffering' the 
vengeance of eternal fire. Whether this be mate- 
rial fire or merely a metaphor to express torment, is 
not necessary to inquire here : but surely we can 
never imagine, tbat the justice of God has provided 
the prison of hell and fiery torments for the souls 
of the wicked separate from bodies, and yet that the 
mercy and goodness of God has provided no heaven 
of happiness for the spirits of those who have loved 5 
honored, and obeyed him, all the days they dwelt in 
the flesh. There is then, there is certainly a state 
of happiness prepared for holy souls immediately af- 
ter death. 

When we think of our pious friends departed, our 
foolish imagination is too ready to indulge and im- 
prove our sorrow. We sit solitary in the parlour and 
the chamber, we miss them there and we cry, 4 They 
are lost !' We retire melancholy to the closet, and 
bewail a lost father, a lost mother, or perhaps a near- 
er and dearer relative. We miss them in our daily 
conversation, we miss them in all their friendly offi- 
ces, and their endearing sensible characters, and we 
are ready to say again, < Alas I they are lost/ This 
is the language of flesh and blood, of sense and fancy. 
Come let our faith teach us to think and speak of 
them under a more cheerful and juster representa- 
tion : They are not utterly lost, for they are present 
with Christ and with God. They are departed our 
world, where all things are in) perfect, to those up- 
per regions where light and perfection dwell. They 
have left their offices and stations here among us ; 
but they are employed in a far diviner manner, aed 
have new stations and nobler offices on high. Their 
places on earth, indeed, know them no more ; but 
their places in heaven know them well, even those 
glorious mansions that were prepared for them from 
the foundation of the world. Their place is empty 
in the earthly sanctuary, and in the days of solemn 
assembly; but they appear above in the heavenly Je* 



178 

rusalem as fair pillars and ornaments in the temple 
on high, and shall forever dwell with him there. 

It is a very natural inquiry now, But where are 
these places of blessed spirits ? What part of the cre- 
ation is it in which they have their residence ? Is it 
above or below the sun ? Is their habitation in any of 
the planetary or starry worlds ? or are they fled be- 
yond them all I Where is the proper place of their 
presence ? 

Let me propose a brief answer to these curious 
questions in a few propositions. 

1. The chief properties of spirits are knowledge 
and activity; and they are said to be present there 5 
where they have an immediate perception of any thing 
and where they lay out their immediate activity. So 
our souls are said to be present with our bodies, be- 
cause they have immediate consciousness or knowl- 
edge of what relates to the body, and they move it, 
and act upon it, or influence it in an immediate man- 
ner. 

2. God, the infinite spirit, has an immediate and 
universal presence : that is, he is immediately con- 
scious of and acquainted with every thing that passes 
in all the known and unknown parts of the creation, 
and by his preserving and governing power manages 
all things. Wheresoever he displays his glory to 
separate spirits, that is heaven ; and where he exerts 
his vengeance, that is hell, 

3. Finite spirits have not such an immediate ancl 
universal presence. Their knowlede and their ac- 
tivity are confined to certain parts of the creation t 
and wheresoever they are, if they are under the im- 
mediate influences of divine glory, they are in heav- 
en ; if of his vengeance, they are in hell. 

4. They are usually represented as having some 
relation to a particular place or places; because 
While we dwell in flesh and blood, we know not how 
to conceive of their presence so well any otker way ; 
and therefore they may be described in scripture, or 
in common discourse, as being in heaven, and above 
the heavens, and in the third heayen, and as coming 



179 

down to earth, Sec. according as they arc supposed to 
put forth any actions there, or to have an immediate 
cognizance of things that are done in those places s 
for the chief notion we have of the presence of spir- 
its, is their immediate consciousness, and their im- 
mediate agency. 

5. But if they are provided with any subtile etherial 
bodies (which are called -vehicles} in and by which 
they act as soon as they leave flesh and blood, then 
they may properly be said to reside in those places 
where their vehicles are, even as our souls at pres- 
ent are said to be in a room, or a closet, or a field, be- 
cause our bodies are there, in and by which they act. 

6. There must be some place where the glorified 
body of Christ is ; and the souls of departed saints 
are, in some sense, with him. There Enoch and 
Elijah are in their immortal bodies, and other saints 
who rose at the resurrection of Christ. They may 
be, for aught we know, in or among some of the 
planets, or amongst the stars ; though the distance 
of the stars is so prodigious and amazing, according 
to the exactest calculations of the new philosophy, 
that if the motion of a spirit or glorified body were 
no swifter than that of a cannon bullet, they would 
not get so far as the stars in a thousand ages ; nor 
would the journey of so swift a traveller to any of 
the planets, except the moon, cost less than the la- 
bour of several years. * 

7. These things are so puzzling to our reason, so 
confound our imagination, and so far transcend the 
reach of our present faculties to inquire and deter- 
mine, that it is sufficient for us to know and believe* 
that the spirits of the just made perfect have an ex- 
istence under the blissful influences of the grace and 
glory of God. And though we freely speak of them* 
and the scripture leads us to conceive of them, as 
dwelling in a world of light, and in some special 
place of magnificence and apartments of glory, or as 
moving from one place to another ; yet perhaps it is 
to be understood chiefly in condescension to the weak* 
siess of our capacities, or in relation to vehicles to 



180 

which they may be united. But our ignorance in 
these matters shall be no hindrance to our arrival at 
heaven, if we tread the paths of faith and holiness, 
though we know not in what part of the creation it 
lies. 

If all the spirits of the just, that depart from this 
world, are made perfect, then there is much better 
company above than there is below. The society in 
heaven is much more agreeable than the best socie- 
ty on earth. 

Here we meet with a multitude of sinners ; they 
are ready to mingle in all the affairs of life, and some- 
times hypocrites join with us in the sacred ordinan- 
ces of the sanctuary. The apostle himself hath told 
us, that in the civil concerns of this life we cannot 
avoid them ; for if we w r ill keep no company with 
sinners, we must have nothing to do in this world, 
we must go out of it. But in the world above there 
are nothing but saints ; no inhabitant there but what 
is holy. There are no persons there that will tempt 
or defile us, or lead us astray from the paths of pu- 
rity and peace. Holiness to the Lord is inscribed 
on every soul there, nor is there one Canaanite in 
that ufiper house of the Lord of hosts. But this is 
not all : For there are many of the saints themselves 
here on earth that make but very indifferent com- 
panions. Some of them are shamefully ignorant, im- 
prudent, and foolish ; and we have much ado to bear 
with their folly. Some of them are morose and con- 
tentious, captious and peevish, envious and censori- 
ous, and ready to take offence on the slightest occa- 
sions. A look or a smile placed wrong shall diso- 
blige them ! a mistaken word shall affront them for 
a month, and it is very hard work to humor and 
please them : or we ourselves, perhaps, are foolish 
and imprudent ; we are peevish and resenting, and 
our fellow Christians have as much to do to bear 
with us or to please us. There are some persons, 
concerning whom we have reason to hope, that their 
hearts in the main are right with God, but either by 
the iniquity of their animal natures, or the power of 



131 

their temptations, they look so like the men of this 
world, that it is hard to distinguish ihern, and their 
society is dangerous, or at least very unprofitable 
and undesirable. 

Some of us fall into gross mistakes, and lead our 
friends into error, and hand in hand we forsake the 
truth. Some of us are melancholly, and sit in dark- 
ness ; then we spread a gloom and heaviness over ail 
our conversation, and banish all the joys of earth and 
heaven : or at best, (it may be) and in our sprightly 
clays, we fill up the visiting-hour with tritfes and 
impertinences, and there is little of heavenly and 
divine conversation among us. Poor, low, grovel- 
ing, subjects furnish our tongues, and entertain our 
ears, because we are so very imperfect here on earth 
in knowledge, in holiness, or in divine joy. 

But what a glorious difference is there in the so- 
ciety above, where we may be secure from all mis- 
take and falsehood, from all impertinence and folly 
in the longest discourse or conference ! for every 
spirit there is so perfect in knowledge, as to be free 
from error, and has so divine a turn of mind, that 
nothing relishes but what is holy and heavenly. No 
quarrels, no complaints are found there to imbitter 
our converse, to diminish the pleasure of society, 
or to draw the heart away from God. 

If we would know what the society of heaven is, 
let us renew the memory of the wisest and holiest, 
tke kindest and the best companions that we were 
ever acquainted with here on earth ; let us recollect 
the most pleasing hours that we ever enjoyed in 
their society ; let us divest them of all their mis- 
takes and weaknesses, of all their sins and imper- 
fections, and then by faith and hope let us divest 
ourselves of all our own guilt and follies too ; let 
us fancy ourselves engaged with them in delightful 
discourse on the most divine and most affecting sub- 
jects, and our hearts mutually raising each other 
near to God, and communicating mutual joys : this 
is the state of the blessed, this the conversation of 
it 



182 

heaven, this, and more than this, shall be our enter- 
tainment when we arrive at those happy regions. 

3. Are the spirits of the just, who are departed 
from earth, made perfect in heaven ? then they are 
not the proper subjects for our perpetual sorrows, 
and endless complaints. Let us moderate our grief 
therefore, for that very providence that has de- 
prived us of their society, has fixed them in perfect 
holiness and joy. 

We lament their absence, and our loss indeed is 
great : but the spirit of Christian friendship should 
teach us to rejoice in their exaltation. Is it no plea- 
sure to think of them as released from all the bonds 
of infirm nature, from the pains of mortality, and the 
disquietudes of a sinful world ? Is it not better to 
lift our eyes upward, and view a parent or a beloved 
friend adorned with perfect grace, and complete in 
glory, exulting in the fulness of joy, near the throne 
of God, than to behold him laboring under the tire- 
some disorders of old age, groaning under the an- 
guish and torment of acute distempers, and striving 
with the troublesome attendants of this sinful and 
painful state ? Do we profess fondness and affection 
for those that are gone, and shall we not please our- 
selves a little in their happiness, or at least abate our 
mourning ? Doth not St. Paul tell the Corinthians, 
This is what we wish, even your perfection ? and 
should not saints inthe lower world, take some satis- 
faction when a fellow-saint is arrived at the sum of 
his own wishes, even perfect holiness and joy on 
high ? 

But I correct myself here ! Nature must have its 
way, and be indulged a little ; let it express its sen- 
sible pain at the loss of such endearments. A long 
separation from those who are so near akin to us in 
flesh and blood, will touch the heart in a painful 
place, and awaken the tenderest springs of sorrow. 
The sluices must be allowed to be held open a little ; 
nature seems to demand it as a debt to love, and 
grace does not utterly forbid it. When Lazarus 
died. Jesus groaned and weptc 



183 

Yet let not sorrow triumph and reign, and like a 
flood, break over all its bounds ; rather give the 
stream of it a little diversion into a better channel. 
Come, let us take the advice which our blessed Sa- 
vieur gives to the daughters of Jerusalem, who at- 
tended him to his cross with tears, Weep not for mc, 
but if ye must weep, do it for yourselves and your 
children ; because you are still left in the valley of 
sin and sorrow, while the saints departed are arrived 
at the land of peace, and their feet stand upon the 
mountains of paradise. 

Could the voice of those blessed spirits made per- 
fect reach our oars, we should hear them speak in 
the language of their Lord, < Weep not for us, but 
for yourselves ; you are still encompassed with 
temptations and difficulties, we have surmounted 
them all : you are wrestling with many errors, and 
entangled in dark and noisy contreversies ; we are 
perfect in knowledge, and see divine mysteries in a 
divine light : you are laboring in the race ; we are 
crowned, and have received the prize t you are still 
striving in the field of battle, and we well remember 
the toilsome and painful conflict ; we pity you, and 
call you rather to weep for yourselves than for us ; 
we have finished all the war through divine grace* 
and are secure in the city of triumph : you are yet 
travelling' through the valley of tears ; we are re- 
freshing ourselves in the gardens oT pleasure, and 
on hills of everlasting gladness. Hold on with cou- 
rage, and faith, and patience, there are mansions of 
joy prepared for you also, and we wait your happy 
arrival.' 

4. Are the spirits of just men in heaven made, 
perfect in the same excellencies and privileges which 
they possessed on earth ? then if cur curiosity, or 
our love, has a mind to know what are the circum- 
stances of our pious friends departed, or how they 
are employed above, let us review what they were 
here below, and how they employed themselves when 
they were with us ; for, as I told you, in this life we 
are trained up for the life of glory : We shall then 



184 

be advanced to a glorious and transcendent degree 
of the same graces ; and there will be something in 
the future state of rewards answerable and corres- 
pondent to the present state of labor and trial. 

■ When I name Sir John Hartopp, all that knew 
him will agree that I name a gentleman, a scholar, 
and a Christian : and neither of these characters, in 
the best and most valuable sense of them, could for- 
sake him at his entrance into heaven. 

He shone with eminence among the persons of 
birth and title on earth, while his obliging deport- 
ment and his affable temper rendered him easy of 
access to all his inferiors, and made him the delight 
of all his friends. Though he knew what was due 
to his quality in this world, yet he affected none of 
the grandeurs of life, but daily practised condescen- 
sion and iove, and secured the respect of all without 
assuming. a superior air. 

Then surely he carried this temper with him to 
the upper world, where gentleness and goodness 
reign in the highest perfection ; and doubtless he 
practises now all the same graces of conversation 
among the blessed spirits there, but in a far superi- 
or manner, according to the unknown laws and 
customs of that region of light and love. 

He had u taste for universal learning ; and ingen- 
ious arts were his delight from his youth. He pur- 
sued knowledge in various forms, and was acquaint- 
ed with many parts of human science. Mathemati- 
cal speculations and practices were a favorite study 
with him in his younger years ; and even to his old 
age he maintained his acquaintance with the motions 
of the heavenly bodies, and light and shade whereby 
lime is measured. 

And may we not suppose that there are entertain- 
ments among the works of God on high to feast the 
spirits of such a genius ? May they not in that up- 
per region look down and survey the glorious con- 
trivances of divine wisdom, which created all things 
in these Lower worlds in number, weight, and mea^ 
sure ? May not our exalted friend give glory there 



185 

to his Maker, in the contemplation of the same hea- 
venly bodies, though he dwells in the region where 
night and shadows are never known, and above the 
need or use of sun-beams ? 

But the book of God was his chief study, and his 
divinest delight. His Bible lay before him night 
and day ; and he was well acquainted with the writ- 
ers that explained it best. He was desirous of see- 
ing what the spirit of God said to men in the original 
languages. For this end lie commenced some ac- 
quaintance with Hebrew when he was more than fif- 
ty years old : and that he might be capable of judg- 
ing of the true sense of any text in the New Testa- 
ment, he kept his youthful knowledge of the Greek 
language in some measure even to the period of his 
life. 

But earthly languages are of* little use in heaven. 
There are too many defects and ambiguities in them 
to express the bright, the complete, and the distinct 
ideas of separate spirits. We may allow our learn- 
ed friend therefore to be divested of these when he 
dropt mortality.. Now he is out of the body, and 
caught up to dwell in paradise, where St. Paul made 
heretofore a short visit. He hears and he speaks 
those unspeakable words it is not possible for a mor- 
tal tongue to utter. 

The things of heaven are not to be expressed in 
any foreign language. 

Among the various themes of Christian contem- 
plation, he took peculiar pleasure in the doctrines of 
grace, in the display of the glories of the person of 
Christ, God in our nature, and the wonderous work 
of redemption by his cross. He adored him as his 
Lord and his God : and while he trusted in his righ- 
teousness, as the great Mediator, and beheld him as 
his crucified Saviour, he was ever zealous to main- 
tain the honors due to his divine nature and majesty, 

And we may be sure this is a study in which he 

is still engaged, and he spends the days of eternity 

in the pleasurable contemplations of his glorified 

Redeemer, and the sac red mysteries of his cross ; and 

17 * 



186 

his throne, which things the angels desire to p-rv 
into. 

His practice in life was agreeable to his Christian 
principles ; for he knew that the grace of God, 
which brings salvation to men, teaches them to deny 
all ungodliness and to live sober, righteous, and reli- 
gious lives, that in all things they may adorn the doc- 
trine of God their Saviour* 

Now that this part of his character is continued 
and exalted in the region of the blessed spirits, is too 
evident to need any amplification or proof; for holi- 
ness in every part of it is made perfect there, and 
all under the sweet constraint of love. 

His conversation was pious and learned, ingenious 
and instructive : He was inquisitive into the affairs 
of the learned world, the progress of arts and scien- 
ces, the concerns of the nation, and the interest of 
the church of Christ ; and upon all occasions was as 
ready to communicate as he was to inquire. What 
he knew of the things. of God or man, he resolved 
not to know them only for himself, but for the bene- 
fit of all that had the honor of his acquaintance. 
There are many of his friends that will join with me 
to confess, how often we have departed from his 
company refreshed, and advanced in some useful 
knowledge. And I cannot but reckon it among the 
blessings of heaven, when I review those five years 
of pleasure and improvement, which I spent in his 
family in my younger part of life ; and I found much 
Instruction myself, where I was called to be an in- 
structor. 

Nor can I think such inquiries and such commu- 
nications as are suitable to the affairs of the upper 
world, are unpractised among the spirits of just men 
made perfect there ; for man is a sociable creature, 
and enjoys communion with his fellow-saints there, 
as well as with his Maker and his Saviour. Nor 
tan the spirit of our honored and departed friend be 
a stranger to the pleasures of society among his feU 
iow-spirits in those blessed mansions. His zeal for 
the welfare of his country, and of the church of 



187 

Christ in it, carried him out to the most expensive 
and toilsome services in his younger and his middle 
age. He employed his time, his spirits, his interest, 
and his riches, for the defence of this nation, when 
torty years ago it was in the utmost danger of Po- 
pery and ruin. 

And doubtless the spirits of the Justin heaven are 
not utterly unacquainted with the affairs of the king- 
dom of Christ on earth. He rejoices and will re- 
joice ameng his fellow-saints, when happy tidings of 
the militant church, or of the religious interests of 
trreat-Britam, are brought to the upper world by 
ministering angels. He waits there for the full ac- 
complishment of all the promises of Christ to Irs 
church, when it shall be freed from sins and sor- 
rows, from persecutions and all mixtures of super- 
stition, and shall be presented to the Father, a slori- 
ous church without spot or wrinkle, in perfect beau- 
ty and j©y. 

_His doors were ever open, and his carriage always 
tri^dly and courteous to the ministers of the eospel 
thcmgh they were distinguished among themselves 
by names of different parties ; for he loved all who 
love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. 

He chose indeed to bear a part in constant public 
worship with the Protestant dissenters, for he thought 
their practice more agreeable to the rules of the gos- 
pel : He joined himself in communion with one of 
their churches, which was under the pastoral care 
of the Rev. Dr. John Owen, where he continued a 
member, under successive pastors, till the day of his 
death. Nor was he ashamed to own and support 
that despised interest, nor to frequent those assem- 
blies, when the spirit of persecution raged highest in 
the days of king Charles and king James II He 
was a present refuge for the oppressed, and the spe- 

flW enc V! God secured him and his a™. 

nom the fury of the oppressor. 

™,n* was J a . lw ^ s a devou i and diligent attendant on 
public ordinances, till the last years of his life, 



188 

when the infirmities of age growing upon him, con- 
fined him to his private retirements. 

But if age confined him, death gave him a release. 
He is exalted now to the church in heaven, and has 
taken his place in that glorious assembly, where he 
worships among them before the throne : There he 
has no need to relieve his memory by the swiftness 
of his pen, which was his perpetual practice in the 
church on earth, and by which means he often enter- 
tained his family in the evening worship of the 
Lord's day w T ith excellent discourses, some of which 
he copied from the lips of some of the greatest 
preachers of the last age. There his unbodied spi- 
rit is able to sustain the sublimest raptures of devo- 
tion, which run through the worshippers in that 
heavenly state; though here on earth I have seen 
the pious pleasure too strong for him ; and while he 
has been reading the things of God to his household, 
the devotion of his heart has broken through his 
eyes, has interrupted his voice, and commanded a 
sacred pause and silence. 

He enjoyed an intimate friendship with that great 
and venerable man Dr. Owen, and this was mutually 
cultivated with zeal and delight on both sides, till 
death divided them. The world has already been 
acquainted, that it is to the pious industry of Sir 
John Hartopp, that we are indebted for many of 
those sermons and discourses of the Doctor, which 
have been lately published in folio. A long and fa- 
miliar acquaintance enabled him also to furnish ma- 
ny memoirs, or matters of fact, toward that brief ac- 
count of the Doctor's life, which is prefixed to that 
volume, though it was drawn up in the present form, 
with various enlargements, by another hand* 

Now can we suppose two such souls to have been, 
so happily intimate on earth, and may we not imag- 
ine they have found each other among the brighter 
spirits on high ? May w r e not indulge ourselves to 
believe, that our late honored friend hath been con- 
gratulated upon his arrival, by that holy man that as- 
sisted to direct and lead him thither ? 



up 

Nor is it improbable that he has found other hap- 
py souls there, who were numbered among his pious 
acquaintance oh earth. Shall I mention that excel- 
lent man Sir "Thomas Abney^ who was his late fore- 
runner to heaven, and had not finished two months 
there before Sir John Hartopp's arrival ? Happy 
spirits ! May I congratulate your meeting in the ce- 
lestial regions ! But the world and the churches 
mourn your absence ; and the Protestant dissenters 
lament the loss of two of their fairest ornaments and 
honors. 

And is there not the same reason to believe, that 
our departed friend hath by this. time renewed his 
sacred endearments with those kindred spirits, that 
were once related to him in some of the nearest 
bonds of flesh and blood ? There they rejoice to- 
gether in unknown satisfaction, they wait and long 
far the arrival of those whom they left behind, and 
for whose immortal welfare they had a solicitous 
concern in the state of their mortality. 

5. If the perfection of the blessed spirits above 
consists in a glorious increase of those virtues and 
graces which were begun below, let us see to it 
then, that those graces and those virtues are begun 
in us here , or they will never be perfected in us 
hereafter. If our spirits have nothing of that divine 
righteousness wrought in them on earthy we can 
never be admitted into the company of the spirits of 
the righteous made perfect in heaven. 

It is an old saying among divines, but it is a most 
natural and a certain truth, that ' grace is glory be- 
gun, and glory is but grace perfected.' The saints 
above have the same divine nature, the same sancti- 
fied inclinations, and are engaged in many of the 
same sacred employments with the saints below, but 
all in a superior degree, and in a more transcendent 
manner. 

As for you, my friends, who have the happiness 
and honor to be descended from such parents, or to 
be nearly related to such saints, you have seen the 
virtues and graces, the exemplary character and pie? 



190 

ty, of them who are gone before : you have had ma- 
ny bright and shining examples in your family ; you 
are the children of the blessed of the Lord, and may 
you forever be blessed with them ! and in order to 
it, see that you are made like them now, that ye 
may be made followers of them, who through faith 
and fiatience inherit the promises. 

This is a proper season to examine yourselves, 
and call your souls to account, in such language : 
My father, my mother, my honored and superior 
kindred, are gone to glory : their graces are per- 
fected ; and are not mine begun ? What, have I no 
evidences for heaven yet ready ? no exercises of 
faith, of love, of repentance, of true holiness ? Are 
they arrived at heaven, and am I not yet travelling 
in the same road ? 

They were convinced of sin, and the danger of 
eternal death, so as to give themselves no rest till 
they found salvation : Have I ever been convinced 
of the sin of my nature, and the guilt of my life t 
Have I beheld myself exposed to the anger of God, 
and in danger of everlasting misery, so as to cry out 
within myself, What shall I do to he saved ? 

They have seen Jesus the Son of God> the all-suf- 
ficient Saviour, and have committed their souls by 
humble faith into his hands, to obtain pardon for the 
sake of his atonement, to be justified through his 
righteousness, to be renewed and made holy by the 
grace of his spirit, and to be preserved to eternal 
glory. 

Now what have I seen of the excellency, or all- 
sufficiency, or necessity of Christ as a mediator ? 
Have I been persuaded to trust in him for my ac- 
ceptance with God, to give my soul up to him as my 
guide, guard, and ruler ? to be formed after bis im- 
age, and to venture all my immortal concerns with 
him to be brought safe to heaven ? Have I ever re- 
ceived him as my Lord and my Saviour, under 
those condescending characters and offices which he 
sustains for a sinner's salvation ? 



191 

They have believed in him while he was unseen 3 
and they loved him, though they saw him not ; they 
rejoiced in him as their all, and they knew not how 
to live without him. How is it with my soul in this 
respect ? Do I love Jesus the Lord ? Is he the de- 
sire of my heart, and the delight of my life ? 

Though they were kept by the grace ©f God from 
the pollutions of the world, and upheld their un- 
blemished character to the last, yet, they found sin 
to be their most dangerous enemy ; they have felt it 
bitter and painful to their souls, and they long groan- 
ed under it as their daily burden. What is my grief? 
what my chief sorrow ? Do I groan in this taberna- 
cle, being burdened, because of this inward enemy ? 
And do 1 long to be rid of it ? Are my sinful affec- 
tions like a pain at my heart, and do the workings of 
sin within me awaken my continual repentance i 

They maintained a sacred tenderness of con- 
science, and were afraid to indulge themselves in 
that comfiany, in that practice, and in those liberties 
of life which have often proved a dangerous snare to 
souls. Now can I appeal to God, who sees my heart, 
that I am cautious and watchful against every snare, 
that I stand afar off from every temptation, and ab- 
stain from all appearance of evil ? 

They took sweet pleasure in retirement, in prayer, 
and other holy exercises : This was the refreshment 
of their hearts, and the throne of grace was their re- 
fuge under every distress and difficulty. Let pie 
ask my heart, what is my pleasure, my inward de- 
light ? Do I find a sweet relish in devotion ? And 
when outward troubles perplex me, do I make the 
mercy-seat my speedy and constant refuge. 

They lived upon their Bible, they counted the gos- 
pel their treasure, and the promises and the words 
of God written there, were more valuable to them 
than all their outward riches. 

But what is my life ? what is my treasure ? what is 
my hope ? Do I count heaven and the gospel my chief 
inheritance ? Do I converse much with my Bible, 
and find fo9d and support there ? Do I look at things 



192 

unseen and eternal, and feed and rest upon the pro- 
mised glories of another world, when I meet with 
disappointments here ? 

They had a large share of Christian experiences, 
a rich stock of divine and spiritual observations, by 
much converse with God, and with their own souls. 
What have I got of this kind for the support of my 
soul ? or are all these strange things to me ? 

Believe me, my dear and honored friends, these 
are matters of infinite importance j I am sure you 
will think so one day : and I trust and persuade my- 
self, you think them so now. I cannot give myself 
leave to imagine that you put these thoughts far from 
you. Some of you have made it appear that they lie 
next your heart, and that your souls are deeply en- 
gaged in the ways of God and goodness. 

O that every one of you would give the same com- 
fort and joy to your friends ! Be not satisfied with a 
mere negative holiness, an unspotted character in 
the eyes of the world ; but let the world know that 
you dare be religious, and profess universal piety in 
a degenerate age. Let those that honor the memory 
of your parents, and love your souls, rejoice in your 
public Christianity. Let thsm know that there are 
the foundations of heavenly glory laid within you all, 
and the blessed work begun on earth, that shall sure- 
ly be made perfect among the spirits of the just 
in heaven. 

And methinks I would not have you contented 
with the lowest seat there ; but stir up yourselves 
to a most unwearied pursuit of holiness in the subli- 
mer degrees of it. And thus laboring in the Chius- 
tian race, contend for some of the brighter prizes, 
some of the richer crowns of glory. Be not satisfied 
to sit at a greafc distance below your parents departed, 
even in the heavenly country : but strive with a holy 
ambition that you may come near them, that the 
whole family together may arrive at some superior 
degrees of blessedness. 

And O may divine grace grant me the pleasure to 
be a witness to your exalted stations, and to worship 
$nd rejoice anjong you there I 



AN ORATION, 



• N THE OUTPOURINGS OF THE SPIRIT OF COD, IN 
NEW-ENGLAND, AND THROUGH THE WORLD, ScC< 
WRITTEN EARLY IN THE SPRING OF 1816. 



O ! THE river of God ! which is full of water 1 
Sufficient to water every nook and corner of the 
earth — and every particle of sand, on this huge 

globe This it is that rises in vapors, distends 

in clouds, — distils in showers, and fructifies the 
earth. — This it is, — which refreshes the animal— 
the vegetable — and the mineral worlds ! the bleat- 
ing and bellowing herds — the savage and howling- 
tribes, and makes the whole earth like the land of 
Giiead, full of its healing virtues : and spreads its 
all-diffusive streams throughout the citadel of man ! 
—and assuages the thirst of all< — even of the deadly 
reptile ! when he has bitten a man to death. 

How strangely it diffuses and clothes even the wiN 
derness, with its beautiful foliage, and renders thitf 
globe, if you except sin from it, a comfortable habi- 
tation for men : just so our Heavenly Father makes 
the sun to rise ufion the exil and the good. 

O ! the numerous grades of animal life, that are 
wonderfully supplied with these salubrious streams ; 
the man, the lion, the tyger, the bear, the wolf, the 
ox and the sheep ; what is there lives, or moves, or 
has a being, that pertains to this globe, but what is 
refreshed by water ? Yes, it is the common good of 
our Heavenly Father ! and it is this, that makes it 
so undervalued by worms of the dust ! He feeds and 
clothes us every day, and gives us all those supplies, 
which we richly enjoy. We are made the common, 
18 



194 

and constant, recipients of his favor. We sit clown 
at bis table and eat and drink to the full, and rise 
up to play ! and say that we will not have this man 
to reign over us. O ! the ingratitude of man ! 

Now let us turn our attention for a moment, to 
those worlds that are all w r ater ! The numerous in- 
habitants of the great deep ; with all their wonder- 
ous ranks, from the huge leviathan, who sports and 
foams along his shining way : to the almost lifeless 
oyster I And see what infinite, exquisite skill, the 
wise Creator of all has exhibited ; probably to the 
view of intellectual beings — in providing such 
lodgings, such beds of repose, such asylums of 
defence, for such a numerous progeny of creatures ! 
of almost infinite different grades ! — and vast num- 
bers of these are finally subservient to man. 

Here again we see, the almost infinite blessings 
of water. Let us pursue the common though much 
despised good, see, they rise in pools, run in brooks, 
flow in rivulets, move strong and majestic in rivers* 
abound in seas, and overwhelm in oceans. They 
not only grow our corn, but they grind it, and carry 
off the overplus ; they not only overload us with 
our own commodities, the produce of our own soH 
and climate ; but they take off that which is bur- 
densome from our own hands ; and barter them for 
the exquisite perfumes of the East, the treasures of 
the .South, the furs of the West, and the utensils of 
the North. 

And shall I now tell you that they refresh and al- 
lay the thirst of a murderous army, of a wanton des- 
pot, or republic, whilst they are going to make a 
horrible invasion upon a nation of unoffending inno-* 
cents. Stupendous I Why are they not hurled to 
those regions, where there is not a drop of this be- 
nevolent fluid ! to cool their inflamed tongues ? But 
why do I say so, why not all this vengeance fall up- 
on the wicked projectors, instigators, and horrible 
movers of all those convulsions and blood ? By this 
lime you will say, that water, in all its wonderous 
aixd beneficial effects, must have some analogy, and 



195 

bear some resemblance, to that infinite river, and 
ocean above. 

But here we lose all calculation, here we are lost 
and gone forever. Take it yeangels, great in might, 
sound the awful abyss if you can ; but why so vain a 
request, I know that you can no more do it than we 
can, strictly and absolutely speaking, — but in a com- 
parative view, you ean truly do wonders ! — Ply then 
your immortal powers. Cover your faces and your 
feet, and fly swiftly around the immortal ocean, in 
earnest expectation to learn something new, gaining 
greater and greater degrees of knowledge, and make 
continual progress, and cry loudly as you fly, Holy ! 
Holy I Holy ! is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth 
is full of his glory. Now let us again exclaim, O ! 
the river of God ! How richly it diffuses like our 
earthly water, and runs in streams, rivulets, rivers 
and oceans, and diffuses its all-sacred sweets all 
abroad, and descending in showers, it enamels the 
whole heavenly plain. O the river ! of the waters 
of life ! whose streams are pure as crystal ! Which 
sweetly glide along its holy banks ! And wonderful- 
ly invigorates the Tree of Life, causing it to bud 
and blossom like the rose i — And yield its immortal 
fruits. 

Recollect, O my friends, that these fruits are 
twelve in kind, and renewed every month : while 
even the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the 
nations. Strange diversity ! sweet surprise ! Vigo- 
rous and immortal new scenes i — fresh food for the 
soul I Nothing with a sameness. New Jerusalem 
emphatically I Just so said our dear Lord ; In my 
Father's house are many mansions, if it were not so 
I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for 
you. Glorious furnishing ! Infinite expence ! Sweet 
residence 1 Blessed home I Eternal resting place 1 
O blessed Jesus ! — Grant us the immortal privilege, 
to sit down at the marriage supper of the Lamb ; 
and then we will sweetly recount, and dwell on the 
awful subject of thine Infinite merit— and our own 
demerit ; and thine Infinite worth — and our own 



196 

unworthiness ; Gf thine Infinite power — and of our 
own weakness ; of thine Infinite wisdom— and of 
our own madness and folly ; of thine Infinite con- 
descension — and of our own perverse stubbornness ; 
of thine Infinite and unutterable love— and our 
shocking and implacable hatred. 

Then joining with the bright choirs above, we will 
forever sing the song of Moses and the Lamb. O 
thou Eternal God-Man, is it so ? hast thou in fact 
prepared, or, art thou now preparing bright man- 
sions of rest for these weary souls of ours, that they 
may go to inhabit— whensoever they are forced from 
these old tenements of clay ? for shame on us ! We 
never should go to inherit the heavenly prize, as 
great and as rich as it is ! were we not forced off the 
stage, by the Grim Messenger ! 

Suppose we should spend a moment in reflection 
on the Tree of Life, that we have just past ; — and 
consider its nature and qualities, how often its fruits 
are renewed and continually different ; What un- 
numbered various fruits, must this Tree produce in 
the long run of millions of ages ? Now this is a 
scriptural expression, and must mean something im- 
portant ! — But perhaps you will ask me what does 
it mean ? I told you at the outset, that I should not 
take on myself the work of a commentator upon the 
sacred scriptures, leaving it to him whose work and' 
function it is, while I humbly pursue the plain lite- 
ral expression in the English language, leaving it 
for the linguist to paraphrase and explain, as he 
thinks fit ; and shew us the difference if there is 
any, between the original, and the English written 
Scriptures ; and thus let him faithfully fulfil his 
Priest's Office. For no man taketh this honor to 
himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. 

But still the Tree cf Life must mean something, 
with all its wonderous fruits, and it greatly concerns 
you, and I, and the whole human race, all who ever 
wish, or expect to partake of its all-cheering fruits. 
But what can this wonderous Tree mean, but a 
strange and wonderful expression of the different 



197 

tastes, relishes, enjoyments, offices, services, capa- 
cities and improvements of the heavenly world, es- 
pecially, if we consider the evidence that can be 
gained upon this point from various parts of scrip- 
ture. Here then, my friends, you will suffer me 
once more to introduce our great author, whom we 
have so often quoted ; and with him recapitulate 
many passages of sacred writ : Hear then his own 
words. 

St. Paul tells us of Thrones, and Dominions, and 
Principalities; and St. Peter speaks of Angels, and 
Authorities, and Powers. And in other parts of the * 
word of God, we read the names of an Archangel, a 
Seraph, and a Cherub. And no doubt as their de- ' 
grees and stations differ from each other : so their 
talents, and geniuses, to sustain these different sta- • 
tions are very various, and exactly suited to their . 
charge and business. And it is not improbable ' 
that the souls of men differ from each other as much 
as angels. For why may not the spirits of the just ' 
made perfect, have the same variety of taste, and * 
pleasure, in that happy world above, according as 
they are fitted for various kinds of sacred entertain- 
ment in their state of preparation, and during their 
residence in flesh and blood. He that hath wrought * 
us for the self same thing is God. Our Saviour in- 4 
timates such differences of rewards, in several of 
his expressions ; He promises the apostles, that 
^hcy shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the tivelvc 
tribes of Israel. And it is probable this may denote 
something of superior honor or dignity, above the 
meanest of the saints. And even among the apos- 
tles themselves, he seems to allow of a difference : 
for though he would not promise James and John to 
sit next to him, on his right hand and his left in his 
kingdom ; yet he does not deny that there are such 
distinct dignities ; but says, 2/ shall be given to them 
for who?n it is prepared of his Father. Again our 
Lord says, He that receives a prophet^ and entertains 
him as a prophet, shall have a prophet's reward ; 
and he that entertains a righteous man^ agreeable to 
18 * 



198 

Iiis character, and from a real esteem cf his righ- 
teousness, shall have a righteous ?nan's reward. And 
even the meanest sort of entertainment, a cu/i of 
cold water given to a disci/ile, for the sake of his 
character, shall not go without some reward. Here 
are three sorts or degrees of reward mentioned, ex- 
tending to the life to come, as well as to this life. 
Now though neither of them can be merited by 
works, but all are entirely conferred by grace, yet, 
as one observes here, the Lord hath fixed a propor- 
tion between the work and the reward ; so that as 
cne has different degrees of goodness, the other 
thall have different degrees of excellency. 

Our Saviour assures us ; that the torments of hell 
,^*huil admit cf various degrees and distinctions. 
Some will be more exquisite and terrible than oth- 
ers : It shall he more tolerable for Sodom and Go~ 
morrah i-i the day of judgment, who never sinned 
against half so much light, than it shall be for Cho- 
razin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, where Christ him- 
self had preached his gospel, and confirmed it with 
most evident miracles. And the servants who did 
not the will of their Lord, shall be beaten with more y 
pr fewer strijies, according to their different degrees 
of knowledge, and advantages of instruction. Now 
may we not, by a parallel reasoning, suppose there 
will be various orders and degrees of reward in 
heaven, as well as punishment in hell ; since there is 
scarce a greater variety among the degrees of wick- 
edness among sinners on earth, than there is of holi- 
ness among the saints I 

When the apostle is describing the glories of the 
body, at the great resurrection, he seems to repre- 
sent the differences of glory that shall be conferred 
on different saints, by the difference of the great lu- 
minaries of heaven ; There U one glory of the sun^ 
another glory of the moon, and another glory of the 
stars ; for one star differs from another in glory : 
so also is the resurrection cf the dead. 

The prophet Daniel led the way to this descrip- 
tion, and the same spirit taught the apostle the same 



199 

language : And many of them that sleeft in the dust 
of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and 
some to shame and everlasting' contemfit. And they 
that be wise shall shine with common glory as the 
brightness of the firmament ; and they that turn ma' 
ny to righteousness, shall have a peculiar lustre, as 
the stars forever and ever. And if there be a dif- 
ference in the visible glories of the saints at the re- 
surrection, if those who turn many to righteousness 
shall sparkle, in that day, with brighter beams than 
those who are only wise for their own salvation, the 
same reason leads us to believe a difference of spiri- 
tual glory, in the state of separate spirits, where the 
recompence of their labors is begun. 

So, He that filantzth, and he that watereth, are 
one ; and every man shall receive his own reward 
according to his own labor. Surely since there is a 
distinction of labors, there will be a distinction of 
rewards too. 

And it is with this view that the same apostle ex- 
horts the Corinthians, Therefore, my beloved breth- 
ren, be ye stedfast, immoveable, always abounding in 
the work of the Lord) forasmuch as you know that 
your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Now that 
great labor and diligence, that stedfastness in pro- 
fession, and that zeal in practice, to which the apos- 
tle exhorts them, might seem to be in vain, if those 
who were far less laborious, less zealous, and less 
stedfast, should obtain an equal recompence. 

It is upon the same principle that he encourages 
them to holy patience under afflictive trials, when 
he says, Our light affliction which is but for a mo- 
vient, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eter- 
nal weight of glory ; while we look not at the things 
that are seen, and temfioral, but to the things invisi- 
ble and eternal. 

Now if the saint who was called to heaven almost 
as soon as he was made a Christian, and went 
through no sufferings, should possess the same 
weight of glory with the martyrs and confessors, 
tmdar the long and tedious train of cruelties which 



200 

they sustained from men, or painful trials from the 
hand of God ; I cannot see how their afflictions 
could be said to work for them a far more exceed- 
ing weight of glory. 

He urges them also to great degrees of liberality 
from the same motive : This I say, he that soweth 
sparingly) shall reap also sparingly ; and he which 
soweth bountifully, shall also reap, bountifully.*— - 
Which words may reasonably be construed to sig- 
nify the blessings of the life to come, as well as the 
blessings of the present life ; for this apostle, speak- 
ing of the same duty of liberality, expresses the 
same encouragement under the same metaphors : 
Let him that is taught in the word, communicate to 
him that teachethy in all good things. Be not de- 
ceived ; God is not mocked : for whatsoever a man 
soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth 
to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption : but 
he that soweth to the s/iirit, shall of the spirit reap 
life everlasting. And let us not be weary in %vell do- 
i n g J f or i n d ue season we shall reap, if we faint 
not. 

When God distributes the riches of his glory 
amongst the saints in heaven, he pours them out in 
a large and bountifui manner upon tkose who have 
distributed the good things of this life bountifully 
to the poor ; but he rewards the narrow-soul'd 
Christian with a more sparing hand. 

With the same design does the apostle encourage 
Christians to great watchfulness against sin and he- 
resy, as well as ministers to a solicitous care of their 
doctrine and preaching : If any man build gold, sil- 
ver, or precious stones, upon the true foundation 
Jesus Christ, and raise a glorious superstructure of 
truth and holiness, he shall receive a reward answer- 
able to his skill and care in building ; for his work 
shall stand, when it is tried by the fire of the judg- 
ment day. But if lie build wood, hay, and stubble, 
upon it, evil inferences, and corrupt practices, or 
trifles, fruitless controversies, and vain ceremonies 
his works shall be burnt; and he shall suffer loss 



201 

shall obtain a far less recompence of his labor. Yet* 
since he has laid Christ for the foundation, and has 
taught and practised the fundamental doctrines and 
duties of Christianity, though mingled with much 
folly and weakness, he himself shall be saved ; yet 
in so hazardous a manner as a man that is saved by 
fire, who loses ail his goods and just escapes with 
his life. 

When you hear St. Paul, or St. John speaking of 
the last judgment, they give hints of the same dis- 
tinction of rewards. For v&e must all apjxear before 
the judgment seat of Christ ; that every one may 
receive the things done in his body, according to that 
he hath done, whether it be good or bad, — Whatsoev* 
er good thing any man doth, the samc>shall he receive 
of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. — And, be- 
hold, I come quickly ; and my reiitzrd is with me, to 
give every man according as his work shall be. 

Though the highest and holiest saint in heaven, 
can claim nothing there by way of merit, for it is 
our Lord Jesus Christ alone who has purchased all 
those unknown blessings, yet, he will distribute them 
according to the different characters and degrees of 
holiness which his saints possessed on earth ; and 
those larger degrees of holiness were also the free 
gift of God our Saviour. 

The reason of man, and the light of nature, entire- 
ly concur with scripture in this point. The glory of 
heaven is prepared for those who are prepared for it 
in a state of grace. It is God who makes each of 
us meet for our own inheritance among the saints in 
light, and then he bestows on us that inheritance. As 
grace fits the soul for glory, so a larger degree of 
grace advances and widens the capacity of the soul, 
and prepares it to receive a larger degree of glory. 
The work of grace is but the means, the reward of 
glory is the end. Now the wisdom of God always 
ihs and adjusts the means in a due proportion to an- 
swer the end he designs ; and the same wisdom ever 
snakes the end answerable to the means he useth-j 



202 

and therefore he infuses more and higher glories- 
into vessels more enlarged and better prepared. 

The worship of heaven, and the joy that attends 
it, may be exceedingly different in degrees, accord- 
ing to the different capacity of spirits ; and yet all 
may be perfect, and free from sinful defects. Does 
not the sparrow praise the Lord, its Maker, upon 
the ridge of a cottage, chirping in its native perfec- 
tion ? and yet the lark advances in her flight, and 
her song as far above the sparrow, as the clouds are 
above the house top. 

Surely, superior joys and glories, must belong to 
superior powers and services. 

Can we think that Abraham, and Moses, who were 
trained up in ^pnverse with God face to face, as a 
man converses with his friend, and who followed him 
through the wilderness and unknown countries, in a 
glorious exercise of faith, were not prepared for a 
greater intimacy with God, and nearer views of his 
glory in heaven, than Sampson and Jephthah, who 
did very little besides killing the Philistines and 
Amorites ? Can we ever believe that the thief upon 
the cross, who spent his life in plundering and mis- 
chief, and made a single, though sincere profession 
of the name of Jesus, just in his dying hour, was 
prepared for the same high station and enjoyment 
in paradise, so near the right hand of Christ, as the 
great Apostle Paul, whose prayers and sermons, 
whose miracles of labor and suffering, filled up and 
finished a long life, and honored his Lord and Sa- 
viour more than all the twelve apostles besides ? Can 
we imagine that the child that is just born into this 
world, under the friendly shadow of the covenant of 
grace, and weeps and dies, and is taken to heaven, is 
ftt to be possessor of the same glories, or raised to 
the same degree there, as the studious, the laborious, 
and the zealous Christian, that has lived above four- 
score years on earth, and spent the greatest part of 
his life in the studies of religion, the exercises of 
piety, and the zealous and painful services of God 
and his country ? Surely, if all these which I have 



203 

named must have equal knowledge and joy in the 
future world, it is hard to find how such an exact 
equity shall be displayed in the distribution of final 
rewards, as the word of God so frequently describes. 

Thus it sufficiently appears from the frequent de- 
clarations of scripture, as well as from the reason 
and equity of things, that the rewards of the future 
world shall be greatly distinguished, according to 
the different degrees of holiness, and service for 
God, even though every spirit there shall be per- 
fect, 

O ! the unbounded river ! which rolls so sweet and 
awful above ! — It is this at which the lovely Seraph 
drinks, — and goes on his way rejoicing, and it is 
this at which the holy Cherub refreshes himself, and 
flies swiftly to perform the mandate of his God. 
And if the spirit of a just man either on earth or in 
heaven, — should have the mercy shown him as to 
partake of the same, it instantly becomes in him a 
well of water springing uft into everlasting life. 

O ! thou infinite unknown something — far above 
and beyond the reach of mortal men ! — and perfectly 
calculated to overwhelm and confound the mighty 
Principalities and Powers of the upper world. And 
all the mighty provinces of light, shall wonder and 
admire, and admire and wonder to ceaseless ages, 
ever learning* and never able to fully understand the 
truth. Strike then your golden harps ! ye sons of 
the morning ! and join us while we humbly hope to 
sing the song of Moses and the Lamb. Let the glo- 
rious melody vibrate through all the vaults of heav- 
en, and reach us, sens of yesterday. And may we 
mean our feeble attempts of praise to the Great 
ETERNAL. 

O ! thou mighty Prince of Peace I Whilst thou 
art rolling the all-resplendent river of divine grace 
through thine own heavenly mansions, pour down 
the salubrious streams on us. And while there are 
Three, that bear record in heaven, the Father, the 
Word, and the Holy Ghost ; may there Three bear 



204 

record on earth, in our conviction and saving con- 
version, the Water, the Spirit, and the Blood. 

Thus, my friends, we see the visions of God, 
through the glass of his holy word ; while the ma- 
jestic river of divine mercy, with its sovereign and 
awful mandate, is inviting us to the skies ! And now 
you will ask me, how we worms of the dust, and ob- 
noxious wretches to the wrath of God, come to have 
any title to it ? or, be any ways benefited by it ? — 
It had to run through the heart and side of the cru- 
cified God-Man, I answer, and was emphatically 
redden'd with the blood of the Lamb ! For the sol- 
dier with his spear pierced his side, and forthwith 
came there out blood and water. 

Amazement ! Eternal amazement ! to the inhabi- 
tants of all workls ! Stand in astonished* statues, ye 
sons of light ! and we on earth will gaze at these 
w r onders. O Immanuel ! Is it possible that we shall 
ever go on high to receive these benefits, or, that 
they will ever come down to us I Yes, yes, they are 
now descending in copious showers ! on Williams- 
burgh, West-Springfield, Hadley, Hatfield, North- 
ampton, Southampton, East and Westhampton, Am- 
herst, Whately, Conway — and many other places in 
Massachusetts — divers places in Connecticut, and 
the other New-England states — and many places in 
New- York. — Dead, degraded Hottentots too, are 
called to life and civility ! Barbarous Africans feel 
the divine impulse ; and the pagan Asiatic tribes 
respond to the glorious sound of the gospel. At- 
tention ! the whole world ! For our God is coming 
down among us — Was it ever before so seen ! 

Well, fellow-sinners, What think ye of Christ ? — 
and the w r ay of salvation by him ? I am going to rank 
you all under classes, and to reason with you. 
Come, O Infidel, you seem to stand in front, and to 
be the first on the list. — Then to you I will repeat 
the question ; What think you of Christ ? Is he a 
Mahometan, a Pagan, a Jewish, or a religious Im- 
postor—a mere man, a creature of the imagination I 
or, indeed, is he the Wonderful Counsellor I the 



205 

Mighty God ! tlie Everlasting Father ! the Prince of 
Peace ! the Lord Jehovah ! the Eternal I AM ! the 
King of kings! and Lord of lords? Tremble then I 
ye sons of the Anakim — and no longer defy the 
strength, and armies, of Israel's God. Do you be- 
lieve all this ? I know you do, or may. Do ycu ask 
me which way ? — Tear off the scales of pride and 
defiance, from your eyes, and take one impartial view 
of the word and works of God : and you will as 
truly cry out as the apostle did, and much in the 
same words, My Lord and my God. 

I was just agoing to read you some passages of 
sacred Scripture, but this must be ail in vain, for you 
wholly deny all this at the outset, and call it a bunch 
of fables, a system of Priest-craft, a mass of forge- 
ries, or lies, and every thing else but what is right ; 
for you never yet knew the awful sublimity of them, 
nor felt their power. 

Suppose I should turn your attention upwards, 
and ask you to read the heavens, in their awful gran- 
deur and sublimity ; these, say you, are beautiful to 
be s-urc, and show the nice exquisite skill of the 
workman, and that is, God Almighty. Why ! I be*- 
lieve in a God as much as yon do, but that has noth- 
ing to do with the doctrine of the religion of Jesus 
Christ. 

Thus baffled, I will attack you in another quarter : 
I will ask you to open and read, the book of your 
own conscience. I}on ? t you observe from day to 
day, in w 7 hat occurs in your own mind, that there is 
an infinite law of rectitude somewhere, and a perfect 
rule of right; and is not that rule reflected to your 
own breast, in a greater or less degree, and don't 
you find that you break over this rule, and of conse- 
quence, absolutely become a sinner, and obnoxious 
to retributive justice, and expiation becomes neces- 
sary ? 

And now I will ask you, if you have ever read of 

the bloody pagan, and Jewish rites, on the account of 

sin, or for sinners just like yourself, and how the 

poor creatures in pagan dominions, cut and rru-nglcd, 

19 



206 

and tortured themselves, and tore their flesh and 
their hair, and butchered and burnt themselves to 
death ; and how the Jewish nation by general con- 
sent, so long kept up the bloody rites of sacrifices, 
typical of the Messiah, and pointing to this same 
Jesus, whom we have, so often above named, as the 
great Antitype ; and how after Shiloh come, the 
sceptre should so soon depart from Israel ; and how 
the poor forlorn nation qf the Jews should be made 
to feel the curse of the Almighty, for more than 
seventeen hundred years ? 

Now, how can all these important questions be 
answered, but only by the cry of Guilty ! Guilty ! 

Q that this, guilt might flash full in your face, into, 
and through your soul: then methinks the work of 
the Spirit will be begun; aad you will as naturally 
..;o to Christ, as the needle does to the loadstone. 
Then your cry will be, give us an adequate Media- 
tor, between God and us, that he may lay his hand 
upon us both. 

Speak not unto us, O God, in all the terrors, thun- 
vlers, and fiery vengeance of the law ! lest we die : 
but speak thou unto us in words of grace, that we 
may live. Brought to this place, O my friend, you 
arc ready for inquiry and examination. Come then, 
bee the operations of the spirit of God, or otherwise* 
of the Comforter, whom this same Jesus sent; it is 
the still small voice, but constantly attended with 
tokens cf Almighty power, sufficient to break thy 
hard and stony heart to pieces, or take it away and 
give a heart of flesh. 

What means this crowding together of men, wo- 
men and children, to the house of prayer ? — these 
deep sighs- — these groanings and heart-aches — these 
down-cast looks—these eyes bespeaking such an- 
guish — these loud cries for mercy — these earnest 
requests of friends to remember them at the throne 
of grace— these wonderful deliverances— these ra- 
tional rejoicings— these placid countenances — these 
changes of life — these upright walks — these con = 
lessioiis cf sin— this cordial friendship — -this bury- 



207 

Ing of animosities' — these extensive charities*— these 
general sympathies— -this love to the brethren, and 
to all men — this faith in Christ— this holy and just 
walk with God ? 

And now, O my unbelieving brother, is it the 
hand of a friend, or an enemy, that has clone all this ? 
A friend do you say? This leads you directly back to 
Jesus ! for you all have read and heard so much of 
him, that you really believe, and are fully convinced, 
that there was such a personage, and that he died to 
save his people from their sins, and gave his life a 
ransom for us. 

And now I would ask yon, if any thing in heaven, 
br under heaven, in the earth* or under the earth, or 
in the great deep, could possibly effect all this, 
short of almighty power ? And if almighty power is 
attendant on the works of this great Saviour of men, 
then it shows that he is fully clothed with it, and de- 
monstrates the truth of that wonderful declaration of 
his, I have flower to lay down my life, and have 
fiower to take it again : Yes, and he will awfully 
show it when he comes in the clouds of heaven, to 
judge both the quick and the dead. Now then, 
when souls are flying to Christ as clouds, and as 
doves to their windows, put in for a share, and ilea 
to the strong hold, while prisoners of hope. 

My unbelieving friend, I have now done with you. 
I will next call on the Hypocrite— And here I 
must request you to give me a history of your life ; 
and tell me how you have been thus far, fatally de- 
ceived. How you first received the deception, 
whether in childhood,— in youth, — in riper years,—- 
in manhood,— in middle or old age ? Did it begin in 
youth, did you appear to yourself an innocent, moral 
and respectable young person? did you conclude 
that mankind loved and admired you, and conse- 
quently that God did, and so did you make saving- 
conversion of this, and never examine it more, nor 
trouble yourself about it; did you never see the 
depravity of your own heart? the baseness and in- 
gratitude of your life, your sins and offences com- 



208 

roitted against a holy God ? did you ever grieve and 
mourn for your rebellion against the Most High, and 
say, against thee, and thee only, have I sinned and 
done this evil in thy sight ; have you come to a de- 
termination to keep all God's commands, so long as 
you live, and be subject to the government of Christ, 
during your abode on earth ? and have you honestly 
performed this resolution according to the best of 
your ability ? and have you been persevering in all 
religious duties, and have you sought frequent 6p- 
portunities for converse with God ? and are you pro- 
gressing in all these great exercises ? What do you 
say, my young friend, to these articles, can you sub- 
scribe to them all, in a greater or less degree ? if 
not, then give up your hope in a moment ; and be- 
gin anew. Now is a glorious season for you, now 
see to it that you settle firmly on the Rock of Ages, 

To the young man of riper years, I would now 
address myself, who is building upon a false hope 5 
and ask him, with the greatest anxiety, how he came 
by it ? perhaps he will tell me, it don't concern you, 
to know any thing about it ; for it is enough for ev- 
ery one to take care of his own concern. But still 
I must press the question, it being of infinite mo* 
ment — of immortal importance ! Then I will ask 
him, was you not a gay, blooming, young man? 
generally respected, and approved of by man- 
kind ? — and was you not anxious for applause ? — and 
did you not believe that vie© in its various shades 
was fashionable and pompous ? — and did you not learn 
to swear rousingly, and gamble upon occasion, and 
commit many other sins incident to youth, and learn 
to blaspheme the name of God, with what you called 
& grace, and learn to abuse and ridicule now and then 
a good old Christian or two s which you found in your 
way ? 

But bye and bye, you felt some compunction of 
conscience, the patience of God was almost exhaust- 
ed with you — you felt really uneasy, and concluded 
you must stop ; and for a time was very much dis* 
tressed— may be, you cried God be merciful to me a 



209 

sinner, two or three times, and made some faint 
and unmeaning prayers, felt a good deal melancho- 
ly ; you wanted to get rid of your feelings, and 
sought company, went to the tavern or alehouse, 
you soon felt better, your burden was gone, you 
thought you loved God and Christians ; and was 
pleased with the wonderful works of God in the cre- 
ation — fancying yourself converted, and that God 
was really going to save you; you thought every thing 
around you was shewing forth his praise ; and took 
all this for sound conversion. 

Fatal deception ! 

And did you ever have one glance at the infinite 
rectitude, and moral beauties of the divine charac- 
ter ? the infinite purity of the divine law^-the thun- 
ders of Mount Sinai, which are out against the sin- 
ner as such ? — the eternal necessity of a thorough 
and entire renovation of heaTt«^-an absolute need of 
holiness in heart and life, as a pre-requisite to your 
going to that world above.— Do you love the Sab- 
bath, and keep it holy from morning to evening, 
and from evening to morning ? Do you not rob God 
of any part of his holy time ? and do you do all this 
and delight in it, not only in obedience to the com- 
mand of God, but because it is a glorious resem- 
blance of that everlasting sabbatism of rest, to which 
you hope you are going ?— Do you love to draw 
near to God in all holy duties l are you much in 
secret prayer, reading the scriptures, in sweet medi- 
tation of God in his holy character, word and w r orks f 
Do you have communion with the Father of lights ? 
Do you feel yourself progressing in divine things ? 
Do you loathe and abhor yourself on account of your 
sins ?— -Do you resolve to be for God and none other, 
daring your existence on earth ? 

And now, my young friend, I trust I have examine 
ed you according to the light of the holy scriptures ; 
now can you, in a greater or less degree, say Amen 
to the above ?* — If not, then renounce your hope ; the 
sooner you give it up the better ; and go immediate* 
19 * 



)y to the throne of grace, and there remain, till you 
obtain a hope that is good. 

In the next place, the middle-aged man will come 
under our notice. Come, my dear Sir, come sir 
down with me, and tell me how you obtained your 
false hope. A false hope ! Why, I am astonished I 
that a man should ask such a question. Why, I have 
as good a hope as any man.— Of what does your hope 
consist ? Why, I have always been a religious man 
from my youth. True, I do not believe in these stirs, 
as you call them, the work of the spirit, and all that? 
— I myself have attended these religious meetings, 
and I have seen so much that it has put me out of 
conceit of them, — ail this sighing, sobbing, and shed- 
log tears 3 — then rejoicing, singing, then groaning* 
and falling down, and such indecencies, — to tell the 
truth, I don't believe a word of it ;— God, you know, 
is a God of order, not of confusion. Now I will tell 
you what my religion has consisted of. I have al- 
ways been what we call a strict moralist; I always 
paid all my just debts, when they became due — Owe 
no man any thing. So you see there is a plain com 
Tnand, that I have always attended to ; and all the oth- 
er commands of the Most High, according to the 
b/st of my ability. That is all our Maker requires 
of us. I have no idea that he requires any more of 
us than we can perform ; and if we do that, I believe 
v.e shall do well enough. As to my family, I have 
always brought them up in what we call the nurture 
and admonition of the Lord ; that is to say, I have 
learnt them to read, write, and cypher, as far as is 
necessary, and have often told them, they must not 
be absent from family prayer. I never allowed them 
to lie, swear, steal, gamble, or drink to excess. I 
(old them if they did any of these things, it would 
hurt their reputation, and probably it would make, 
them poor men in the world ; and besides all, that 
it was wicked. And as I before told you, I made a 
pretty general thing of praying in my family, always 
when I could make it convenient, unless business, 
iivove, bad company, or something else of impor* 



211 

tance. But I made a business of praying on the sub- 
bath, because I could find time then ; for people 
were not coming so constantly, to interrupt the exer* 
cise. Improving time, you know, is one part of re- 
ligion ; and a very great part too, 

I always catechise my children, and learnt them 
the Lord's prayer, — I told them they must not play- 
sabbath days, — I never told them any thing about 
secret firayer, besides the Lord's prayer ; fori do 
not believe in it myself, about making any parade in 
it ; I mean, of having any set time, or using any words, 
because I believe we can pray any time in the field, 
or when we are walking by the way, — if we think in 
our mind, that is prayer, without any words. I believe 
I love mankind generally, as well as other men do, 
— I do not know as I hate any body really, — I gene- 
rally go to meeting on the sabbath, — I joined the 
church above twenty years ago, — I love christians 
very well, and I love God too ; I cannot help it, be- 
cause in one sense he gives me all the good things I 
have, or hope for. And to tell ihe truth, I am not 
much concerned but what I shall go to heaven. 

And is this your religion ? poor infatuated mortal I 
And do you believe this will bear the scrutinizing of 
that Judge, whose eyes are as a flame of fire, which 
see the inmost recesses of your soul ?— Attend then, 
for a moment, to your immortal concerns, and give 
up your hope at once ; for you must give it up as the 
hope of the hypocrite ! in the day that God shall take 
away your soul. 

We shall now turn our atte»tion to the old, or aged 
man, who has run, perhaps, his threescore years and 
ten; and no grace yet. Well my dear Sir, I have 
always been delighted and pleased with your compa- 
ny, merely as a man of business, and of the world, 
but I have long since concluded in my own mind 
i^hat you are a hypocrite. 

A Hypocrite ! you surprise me ! I am as far from. 
that as any man living — I am a christian, a whole 
christian ; none of your mongrel christians ; half 
christian and half pharisee,— 1 cannot endure them 



212 

any better than you can. I hold to faith in Christ? 
repentance, a saving change, and all these things as 
well as^ou. I have past through all this long ago. 
Interrupting him, I say to him, will you be so kind as 
to give me a relation of your experience ? Yes, says 
he, I am very willing to, for, as the apostle says, we 
ought to be always ready to give every one a reason 
of the hope that is within us. 

Well, now I will begih my story. Sometime about 
fifty years ago, or not far from that, or as long ago as 
I can well remember, there was a great stir, or re- 
formation in the place where I lived ; it was surpris- 
ing to see sinners flocking to Christ as clouds, or. as 
doves to their windows ; and I was taken among the 
rest, and was filled with a dreadful horror for my 
sins ; I could scarce sleep a-nights, and it appeared 
when I went to bed, as though I might awake in the 
morning, in the world of misery. I wanted every 
body should pray for me. Well, I continued in this 
situation a good while, almost in despair; but one 
night when I was in such distress as I could hardly 
live, the adversary seemed to take hold of me, to take 
me away as it were, when Christ appeared to me all 
at once, with a smiling countenance, and stretching 
out his han<l tome, seemed to point right to me, and 
said such sweet words to me, that I believe I shall 
never forget them. £cw, thy sins be forgiven thee. 
Immediately I felt like a new creature, every thing 
seemed to be praising God. And to tell the truth, I 
have not had a doubt since ; for if I go to think any 
thing about religion, these words very often ring in 
my ears. 

Ah ! your case is quite remarkable. Have you 
never had any new conversions ? New conversions ' 
What do you mean by that ? Did ever any body have 
any new conversions ? I never heard of such a thing. 
Then for the moment I will lower the terms a little. 

Did you ever have any refreshments, or these 
scenes renewed ? Yes, always when I think what 
Christ has done, that that glorious Saviour should 
come down from heaven, and die for me, and such 



sinners, it fills my heart so full of joy, that I very of- 
ten shed tears ; when I think on his sufferings for us 
poor sinners, I can hardly contain myself at times ; 
it seems as though I wanted all should come to such 
a Saviour : it is true I shed tears pretty easy, I 
sometimes cry when I talk about my secular con- 
cerns. Do you pray in your family ? No. I think 
that is a pharisaical trick — a mere show — ostentation 
— -being more holy than needs must. You know 
our Saviour said, take heed that you do not your alms 
before men, See. and besides, this looks like patching 
up a righteousness of our own ; now Christ will be 
a whole Saviour or none. 

What do you do with those passages of scripture, 
where it says, Pour out thy fury upon the heathen, 
that know thee not, and upon the families that call 
not on thy name. The wicked shall be turned into 
hell, and all the nations that forget God. 

Ah ! that was Old Testament times, tinder ihe 
Jewish law, and besides, in one place it speaks of 
whole nations, so that we have nothing to do with 
that you see ; that does not apply at all to individu* 
als; — in the other place it was spoken by Jeremiah, 
perhaps, it was because he was mad, or something 
or other, with the heathen nations, that were round 
about ; so he included them all in one imprecation. 

Do you pray in secret ? No. I do not pretend to 
make a business of it, according to what supersti- 
tious people call praying, in words, and the like. 

Does not our Saviour command us to enter into 
our closet ami shut to the door, and pray to our Fa- 
ther which is in secret? 

Now you have just given me the argument, be- 
cause there are a great many poor people in the 
world, that have no closet ; therefore it cannot have 
a literal meaning, but it must mean praying every 
where ; so I pray all day long, not with my lips and 
tongue, to be sure ; but I pray with my heart, the de- 
sires of my mind ; I desire to be saved, and that oth- 
ers might be saved— that I and others might have 
worldly prosperity, and the like. 



214 

What is your life ? is it a life of sobriety or vanity ? 
Why, I sometimes laugh, or so, there is no harm in 
that. 

Do you ever laugh at Christians ? O no, unless at 
some superstitious ones, fanatics, and the likq. . 

Do you read a good deal in the bible ? Why, I 
read considerable, that which is plain and easy.; there 
is a great deal of it that is so dark and my-sterious, 
that I do not understand it, nor think it worth while 
to try. And our ministers I find do not understand 
it much better. I do not go to meeting very much, 
I find I do ntit get any instruction. 

Well, how do you bring up ydur family ? Why, I 
tell them not to lie, swear, nor steal, nor get drunk, 
nor play cards ; and I tell them to do every thing that 
belongs to good behaviour, and almost every thing 
else, but just being a Pharisee ; so here you have a 
relation of my experience and my life. 

And do you say you are seventy years of age ?~ 
Tremble ! O aged sinner-«you are on the verge of 
eternal burnings ! just ready to fall into that pit, 
where there is no water. All these lies which you 
hold in your right hand, will not save you ; your hope 
must be as the giving- up. of the ghost. Your sands 
are almost run— it must be of importance for us to 
examine this hope, and find out its fallacy. With 
you we will attempt the friendly oifice, for your own 
safety* 

In the first place, your convictions do nbt appear to 
have one spark of godly sorrow for sin, mourning and 
grievingfor your offences against God,as an infinitely 
pure and holy being ; but more by a kind of horror* 
such as the devils have. Then there is your discovery 
of Christ* it appears that it might be entirely an illu- 
sion of the fancy, or imagination ; for it appears that 
there was not any thing spiritual, in the view. And 
as to Christ's speaking to you, in the manner you 
thought he did, we must suppose that Satan, were 
he permitted, could have easily made the suggestion, 
or expression ; for doubtless he is greatly versed in 
the holy scriptures, and may for ought that we know, 



' 215 

have ruined thousands in this way. And as to such 
expressions being spoken by our Saviour, as there 
is no warrant from the word of God for this at this 
day, so we can put no confidence in them. Your 
settling down on your lees, and never examining 
your hope is an unquestionable evidence of your bad 
estate. For it is as natural for the new born soul to 
go forward, as to breathe the vital air ; We are com- 
inanded to give all diligence^ to make our calling and 
election sure. And to desire the sincere milk of the 
word, that nve may grow thereby. 

As to your neglect of prayer, family and secret^ 
and evasion of the same, you fly directly in the face 
of heaven, and your own conscience ; and do mest 
certainly incur in a greater or less degree, all the 
curses that are written in the book of the law, and 
are liable to the dreadful vengeance of the samc« 
Are we not commanded to pray every where, lifting 
up holy hands, without wrath and doubting ? so you 
see here must be either an erect, or kneeling pos- 
ture of the body, the tongue and lips must be engag- 
ed, the eye must either be lifted up to heaven, or cast to- 
wards the ground in humble submission, and deep 
reverence, but the hands must be lifted up : A pos- 
ture utterly incompatible with roving round the 
fields, walking on the way, or pursuing common 
worldly business. And as to the closet, any place 
in a man's house, be it small or great, any of his out 
houses, barns, stables, or dependencies, or any place 
in his lot or field, where a man retires constantly and 
statedly, for the worship of his Maker, may be an 
acceptable closet, in the eyes of the Lord of hosts ; 
and his shutting to the door, may mean his shutting 
out all his worldly concerns, or all but what is truly 
spiritual, and really beneficial to himself or man- 
kind. 

As to your life, it does not appear to be a life of 
sobriety, for it appears, upon occasion, you could 
laugh at Christians as well as fanatics; but, you 
must consider that those who touch Christians/ 
touch the apple of God's eye, 



216 

Your utter contempt of the word of God, or the 
greater part of it, is another evidence of your grace- 
less state ; your neglect of the house, worship, or- 
dinances, and servants of the Most High, is another 
unquestionable evidence, that you are yet in your 
sins. 

As to your religious reveries, or your rejoicing on 
account of what Christ has done and suffered for 
you, they may be all entirely selfish. — And as to your 
weeping at the tragical story of the crucifixion and 
death of Christ, it may he wholly natural, and occa- 
sioned by the flow of your animal spirits, just as it was 
with you when you was talking over your secular 
concerns. 

And as to your family, you have given them very 
good instructions for this world, but seem to have 
cleared out all obstructions in their way to hell : and 
thus left a may be, that you have been guilty of their 
blood. 

Thus you see, that this hope must be as the sjiU 
cler's web. Then renounce it instantly, and go to 
the throne of grace, and besiege it, night and day, 
for the few remaining days and years, that you may 
live here below, that if so be, God may think upon 
you, that you perish not. 

I will now speak in lively figures to the Christian. 
Hail ! thou that art highly favoured of the Lord ! O 
thou embryo of Angels 1 Thou Child of the Skies ! 
Thou expectant of Zion's inheritance ! Thou Ally 
of Seraphs! Thou Partner with Cherubs I Thou 
Heir of immortal Glopy ! O Thou important Crea- 
ture ! made so, however, by adoption, brought into 
thy heavenly Father's family, by sacrificing one of 
the Sacred Three ! Wondrous method ! O Chris- 
tian, methinks I see you sink, and are sinking under 
an eternal load of gratitude ! 

But you will not say that I require impossibilities, 
when I call, come, arise, shine for your light is come ; 
■ — Shine then through the world — Shine on every 
creature — Shine on the infidel, he may read the word, 
and works of God in you,, though he never touches 



217 

Lis Bible ! Yes, every unfolding leaf of your lives 
may flash the conviction full in his face—Not only 
that there is a God, but, that there is a Christ, a Sa- 
viour of men too ! And that the law and gospel are 
bright transcripts of the moral character of God : 
and that the disciple of Jesus is designed for impor- 
tant services somewhere — and is destined to branch 
out and become important in some future state. And 
then he will be very willing to appropriate to it, his 
own favourite word, eternal : though he had hitherto 
done it, tremblingly ! over the gulf of anihilation ! 
for he is as fond of life as any man, and wishes to 
livejbr ever. This inspires him with a determina- 
tion, and constant perseverance in the use of all the 
means appointed, to become a Christian : as that 
seems to him now to be the only way to be blessed. 
And thus, O Christian, You see that by your shin- 
ing, you have saved the infidel ! 

Shine next, O Christian, on the hypocrite! your 
light may help him to discover his darkness— -your 
brightness, his foul -spots — your washing, his filth — ■ 
your purity, his corruption — your holiness, his .sin. 
And every moment of your life will be a constant 
check upon him ; and your every look will shame 
him % and your very presence shall awe him ; your 
arguments shall confound him ; your reproofs shall 
reclaim him, and your charities shall gain him ; and 
thus, O Christian, you see that by your shining you 
have enlightened him into your own paths, as of holy 
important ground, and have him almost wholly in 
your own power, under God, to bring him to the 
gospel mould. 

Begin then, with knocking away some of his re- 
fuges of lies, for he will bear it from you, when he 
would not from any other person ; you have the as- 
cendancy over him, you have gained his affections in 
some measure ; and he will hear thee patiently. 
Proceed then by opening to his mind, the purity and 
holiness of the divine law, the just and strict re- 
quirements of the same, and that we must all eter- 
nally perish bv it, and that Divine vengeance jrur- 
20 



■ 218 

sues the sinner, and nothing but infinite mercy ar- 
rests the stroke. And that he must certainly re- 
pent of his sins, after a godly sort, grieve for them 
heartily, as commited against God; that he must 
then fly to the blood of Christ, as the only hope 
which the gospel sets before him ; that he must rely 
on Christ, with a firm and unshaken faith, and confi? 
deuce in him, to be his only Saviour, owner and 
Lord, to be ruled by his laws, as well as saved by 
his merits. To take the holy scriptures, for the 
man of his counsel, his guide and directory at all 
times. Now help him to begin a life of sacred de? 
votion, which like the coat of Christ, was without 
seam, and woven from the top throughout. 

Next shine, O Christian, shine on the impenitent 
sinner, and let him know that if he will bolt along 
the downward road to hell, he shall have thy light to 
help him thither ! Shine so bright as that he may 
see every obstacle that lies in his way. Yes, if he 
vjill go, let him have full day -light for it; or, other- 
wise shine so amazingly bright, as to dazzle and con- 
found the organs of his sight; then he will grope in 
darkness, and cannot find the way. Then go to him 
and take him by the hand, saying, come O friend, re- 
turn back, you was on the road to hell ! and your 
stcfis take hold on death ; your feet had well nigh 
3'ifit. If thou hadst gone but a little further, the 
devils would have seized on thee, and dragged thee 
away to that dark and burning pit from whence there 
is no return ; and where there is no water to cool an 
inflamed tongue, and no companions but malicious 
ones ; and where the all despairing cry, for ever ! 
for ever ! for ever 1 rings through all the vaults 
of hell i O what a doleful place of torture ! O what 
gigantic forms of horror ! O what a burning lake ! 
b what dreadfulblasphemies and heart risings against 
pod I O what incensed justice still crushing them 
down !~— Fiy then my soul, these dismal regions. — 
\V hat a wonder, O sinner, that thou hast escaped 
them ! — Come, let us converse together a little about 
my way, and the end of it. It is a strait and narrow 



219 

path, and leads directly to Mount Zion ; it is steep 
in many places, and of difficult ascent, and requires 
great fortitude and perseverance to the end of our 
journey, and if we fail of going through s we had 
just as good not to have set out at all. But the 
King of the country has given us a rule, to which if 
we adhere, we cannot miss our way ; and, besides, 
he has so stationed his guards, through the whole of 
this way, that the enemy, cannot kill us, though he 
may foil us terribly ; the Lord of the country will 
set us up again, and sweetly refresh and invigorate 
us to the end. Our journey may be very long, con- 
sidering the thorns in our way, and we know not how 
long, but the country by all accounts is glorious.— * 
What say you, O sinner, will you go along with me 
on these conditions, or will you not ? If you ever in- 
tend to go, now is your time. For if you once fall 
back into the broad downward road again, it will be 
almost a miracle for you ever to be brought under 
so good advantages as you now are* 

If you conclude to go with us, I will proceed to 
read to you the rules of the articles of conduct for 
each day. 

In the first place, you are to hold our Master's 
rule constantly in your hand, and never lay it down, 
but keep your eye constantly fixed upon it, lest you 
should lose some of the saving benefits of it. For 
-you must consider that you are going to walk through 
enchanted ground; and that your way lies through a 
country called the world, or more emphatically, Sa- 
tan's territories ; that by far the greatest part of the 
inhabitants that are here settled, are unfriendly to 
your walk. Satan too, with all his legions, will en- 
deavour to obstruct it. But the worst of all is, you 
have something within yourself, that more than half 
inclines you to go out of it; and the borders of your 
path are attended all the way, with a steep declivity, 
at which you will easily slide down, but never can get 
back in the same place, but must go more or less 
round, and force your way back through briars and 
thorns ; this will make you groan and cry terribly. 



220 

It is now that your enemies will beset you from 
all quarters, and the aforesaid inhabitants will laugh 
at you for setting out, and Satan with his legions 
will roar upon you, and tell yom that you will never 
get through. It is now that you will renew your cries, 
and they will be so loud, that they will be heard by 
the King of Zion ; and he will send you some invisi- 
ble aid, on which you must rely, locking up to him, 
and in this confidence, steady and confirmed, you 
must make a violent effort to regain your path, and 
you will succeed. But if you parley with your ene- 
mies, you never can get back. Your food may be 
coarse, and sparing ; but you must learn to be ab- 
stemious, and content with such things as you have. 

The King of the country will feed you with two 
kinds of provisions ; one material, the other immate- 
rial ; the one, for one part of yourself, and the other, 
for the other part ; and the one has no connection 
with the other. And you may be fed sparingly with 
both, but still you must believe in the faithfulness of 
your King. 

If there are any cross-bars lying in your way, you 
must take them up, and carry them ; these will be a 
kind of ballast} to help you to mount the steep as- 
cent; you will always keep your eye upwards, and 
turned towards your King and country. 

You must first strip yourself of every impediment^ 
obstruction, or cumbersqme garment, that may be a 
hindrance to your runing, or fighing. 

Thus in readiness, you will set out.— For your 
encouragement, you will have guards to attend you 
all the way ; but Judah's Lion will be the principal; 
he will take his stand at the uppermost part of the 
ascent, where, with his piercing eye, he will very 
easily discover all the formidable machinations that 
are forming against you, and baffle them all. 

The Lion of hell, too, shall roar terribly upon 
you at times, and will bring up all his legions to face, 
and dishearten you, but you must keep an erect pos- 
ture, what your rule calls watchful and firayerful $ 
these a»d Che other rules, you must adhere to strictly 



221 

and perseveringly, to the end of your way. It would 
be well to keep a memorandum of your progress. 

This resolution being made, in the strength of 
your Lord, and constantly, and steadily performed, 
will ensure your success. For methinks you shall 
not have travelled far, before you shall meet with a 
change of heart, and begin a new life ; and feel your- 
self assimilating into the same nature of the inhabi- 
tants above, to which you are going. It would be 
well now to talk often with your fellow travellers, 
and form into little societies, for your mutual benefit, 
and thus accelerate your motion upwards. Now 
methinks I see you rise fast, and the enemy appears 
less potent ; methinks I follow you with my eyes, 
though through a world of difficulties and temptations, 
to the summit of the way. 

There is but one terror more ; that is the cold flood 
that divides the aforesaid country, from the place 
where you now stand, which we denominate the Jor- 
dan of Death. And it is usual for the King of the 
country to send out such helps and refresMnents, lo 
the assistance of the traveller, as enables him to pass 
safely and cheerfully over. And thus we see him 
land on the hill of Mount Zion. And thus, O Chris- 
tian, by your shining, you have saved the sinner. 

Next, shine, O Christian — Shine on thyself, and on 
thy fellow-christians. What a strange kind of a 
mortal is addressing me ? Methinks I hear him say ! 
— But still I must call on you to protuberate with an 
effulgence, above what thou hast hitherto done, or 
above thy fellows. These shining qualities in a 
Christian are somewhat of an increasing nature, and 
habits of shining will improve and extend. 

But, methinks I hear him say, by a spirit of indif- 
ference, carelessness, and indolence, what if I should 
make a trifling addition to my graces ? Trifling i Do 
not call any thing trifling, I beg of you, that has eter- 
nity attached to it. — What if I should tell you that a 
trifling addition to your graces, as you call it, and 
consequent glory, should ensure to you more happi- 
ness, in the long run of ceaseless ages, Jian has 
20 * 



222 

feeen enjoyed by all the successions of men and aa- 
gels since the morning of time ? What do you say 
now to your trifle ? reverse the scene for a moment. 

O shuddering, ! insupportable ! too much for the 
soul to think ! — fly then these regions, and dwell on 
£he bright part. By shining, O Christian, thou wilt 
discover all thy spots and blemishes* and by constant 
shining, these too will brighten. Shine likewise on 
thy fellow-christian, roll near to him, give him a 
gentle attrition, rub off his dirt and filth ; perhaps he 
is below the horizon, clouded with indisposition, va- 
poured with melancholb; jj — a dismal gloom over- 
spreads his surface — may be, he is prepared to run 
as long, and as far, and to shine as bnght as yourself 
— And, to use a figure of speech, do you endeavour 
to make him placid, easy and comfortable : healing 
his wounds, pouring in oil and wine t then you may 
be prepared to shine along the road together, to eter- 
nal day, 

So you see, that you have eternally benefitted 
yourself, and your fellow-christian by your shining. 

Shine then, O Christian, shine on your Minister. 
Perhaps, you will tell me, that he is now a burning 
end a shining lighh & star, m the golden candlestick} 
in which he is placed ; and that He whose eyes are 
tis a flame of fire, holds him in his right hand. 

Admit it, But still he may brighten, and reflect a 
brighter lustre, upon you, and others of his charge*. 
Thus mutually shining, may you shine along togeth* 
er, to that world, where you may shine to advantage 
for ever ! 

The ministers of the gospel, of all denominations, 
will now suffer a word of exhortation. Presumption ! 
What I addressed by a layman I A man not in holy 
orders! Ignorant too 1 Too much. 

But why not ? You address us, poor ignorant crea- 
tures ! and tell us that we must repent, and believe, 
and beiieve what ycu say. We too, with boldness 
and confidence, will tell you, that you must ivalk 
worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called. This 
opens a scene of retaliation ; in whfeh it is presume 
csl> we s&ail have work enough > 



223 

The first question that we shall put to you, is, How 
comes it about, that you are split into such sectaries 9 
and parties, through the world ? and exhaust so much 
of your talents in defence of your own particular te- 
nets, and fighting your opposer ? while all your tal- 
ents and powers, ought, unanimously to be combined, 
and duly regulated, against the Infernal Wolf, to 
prevent his coming in to destroy the sheep ! 

Here then, I will give you another call — Watch- 
man, what of the night ? Will you answer in the 
words of the evangelical prophet, The morning com- 
^th, and also t he night ; if ye will in quire, in quire ye,re- 
turn,come. And thus b wholly indifferent, with regard 
to the signs of the- times ? Then we will repeat the 
call, Watchman, what of the night? and continue it 
until you are all awakened. 

And then we will ask you, is it not high time, that 
all your little party dissentions, and animosities, 
were turned into chaos, or buried in eternal obliv- 
ion ? and that your eyes were anointed with Christ's 
eye -salve, that you might more clearly see, eye to 
eye, as well as to walk hand in hawd ! Hail ! ye sons 
of consolation. Hail ! ye sons of thunder. Your work 
is equal to your strength. 

In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening 
withhold not thy hand ; for thou knoivest not whether 
shall, prosper, either this or that, *or whether both 
shall be alike good. Guard well your vineyard. Don't 
sleep. For if you do, the enemy will sow tares, and 
there they will grow, until the harvest. Call up all 
your vigilance. Give your whole attention to your 
Master's work. Your Lord is infinitely benevolent. 
He has with him rewards and crowns of every size, 
Yours shall be equitably fitted to your labour and ser- 
vices. Insure a bright one then. And your spirit- 
ual children, too, shall rise ufiand cad you blessed. 

Are you sons of consolation ? Then like your clear 
Lord, endeavour to bind uji the broken-hearted. 
Are you sons of thunder ? Then gather the fiery 
.ombustibles from the law. Disseminate virtue ; 
not only by dea4> but, by living examples* Preach 



224 

every clay in the week ; sick or welh Then you will 
have a large audience. You will seem to be preach- 
ing* every time they see you. And this will furnish 
the best pulpit eloquence. Perhaps some of you are 
deficient in this. Then I have marked out for you 
the best remedy. There is another thing I would 
have you attend to ; — that is, to lie down and rise up 
as near the throne of grace as possible ; for, the bles- 
sing of the Lord viaketh rich. You may plant and 
water, until your Lord calls you out of his vineyard; 
it will avail you nothing, unless God give the increase, 
The greater your acquaintance with the Most High, 
the purer your doctrines and precepts. 'The nearer 
you are brought to heaven, the more heavenly your 
communication. The more you ar c filled with the 
Spirit, the mere you will be led by the Spirit. The 
more you are led by the Spirit, the more you will 
lead others by the Spirit. The more spiritual stones 
you gather, the greater will be your spiritual building, 
Strong motive ! 

Did you ever make an estimate of the human soul, 
and calculate its worth by figures, an9 raise a com- 
parison between all that you do, or ever ean do, and 
its salvation, or loss? If so, I request an answer. 
Methinks 1 see you involuntarily, and in an instant, 
write the word Infinite ! 

Then I beseech you to bestir yourselves. Do not 
let the blood of souls be found in your skirts I It has 
an impurpled hue ! It can never be atoned I The loss 
is irrepairable i Once gone, it is gone forever! There 
is no bartering — no exchanging — in these spiritual 
things. O doleful ! How precious is probation for 
eternity ! How important every breath ! 

How magnanimous every act 1 How weighty eve- 
ry thought ! All is to be reviewed at the great day of 
accounts ! God has appointed a day, in the which he 
will judge the world in righteousness, by that man 
whom he hath ordained. Then it is with respect to 
this great judgment day, that all our actions must be 
referred. 



225 

O on what important ground do we tread I Minis* 
ters and people, pushing forward to ^hat important 
bar, from whence there is no appeal. All the events 
big as eternity 1 Absolute as endless ages. O what 
trembling ought to seize all, at such a solemn ap- 
proach ! 

How important it is to ministers, how they preach 
— to people how they hear !~But O alas i Is it true ? 
that some of the first and most eminent ; those who 
ought to march in front of Christ's army, who ought 
to be mighty chieftains, under their glorious head> 
are decrying the worth of Immanuei ; lowering the 
prerogative of Jesus. Vain pretences-Strange ab- 
surdity ! Doleful catastrophe ! Dreadful depression I 
Plunging downwards, towards the abyss of death. 

But you will say, We allow him to be a creature, 
An eminent creature. A super-eminent creature, 
An angeh An eminent angel. A super-eminent 
angel. But all this will not do. Ton rob God. And 
do you say, Wherein do ive rob Him ? You rob him 
of his Godhead. 

We fear this doctrine will soon shake the christian 
world, and shake many sinners out of it into hell I 
O dreadful! Pray look once more, O ye Reverend 
Fathers, into this Christ-diminishing doctrine, this 
soul-confounding system, before ye promulgate it. 
While we, in our poor mutilated capacity, will en- 
deavour to charge you with the evidence of Christ's 
divinity. Especially, as this is a period, wherein 
Chirst's divinity wonderfully appears; and as he is 
about to blow on the earth with his millennium breath , 
and cause the holy fragrance, and spices thereof, to 
flow out abundantly. This being the case, I will say as 
St. Paul said to Agrippa, I beseech thee to hear me 
patiently. 

The first proposition that I shall state, however, 
shall be the economy of grace, in the hand of a Me- 
diator, immediately upon the fall of man ; where we 
were all dead, as to the law dispensation, and mere 
fugitives from Divine vengeance. It was then, that 
God the Father would have nothing more to do with 



226 

its, than to see condign punishment inflicted upoti 
lis. It was then, that God the Son, took upon him- 
self the administration of our affairs, and rolled on 
the mighty concerns of providence, as well as of 
grace, and conducts all possible causes and events to 
their end. This shows him to be the Almighty 
God. 

This is the first argument. And now we will at- 
tend to the second. 

If the divine law was infinite, and the breach of it 
incurred an infinite penalty, then it never can be sat- 
isfied by a finite creature, in any other way, than by 
an infinite satisfaction. And as this infinite satisfac- 
tion can never be made by the creature, but by en- 
during the infinite curse of the law ; and it being en- 
tirely immaterial as to the principles of justice, whe- 
ther this infinite suffering shall rise out of the height, 
and greatness of the punishment in the substitute, 
or, the length of it in the principal, or offender. It 
follows of course, that the punishment of the offen- 
der must be strictly eternal, in order to give an infi- 
nite satisfaction to the broken law ; or else, that the 
infinite dignity of the personage who suffered as»a 
substitute, must have merit enough to give restitu- 
tion at once. 

And if Christ, the Lord's anointed, was this per- 
sonage, who undertook and carried through this 
work for man, as a substitute, and was so accepted ; 
then it certainly follows, that he must have been 
God-Man, or the eternal Jehovah. 

This is our second argument. Lowering our hy- 
pothesis a little, we will now proceed to the third. 

Suppose the divine law, in its infinite rectitude* 
{mrity^ and holiness^ is eternally inflexible, and the 
breach and penalties incurred are infinite, and will be 
demanded ; and if Christ was not an infinite person- 
age, and yet has undertaken as our mediator, and 
could not give infinite satisfaction to the demands of 
the broken law, then it follows, that no atonement 
has been made for us ; and of course, we are yet in 
©ur sins ? and hourly exposed to eternal vengeance. 



227 

And that when Christ, on the cross, cried out, It is 
finished I and gave up the ghost, it was only the 
completion of our eternal disaster. 

This is our third argument. But we will still 
come lower, and say, 

That although the law was infinite, yet when bro- 
ken by man, God forebore to demand an infinite pe? 
nalty, or satisfaction ; and out of benevolence an4 
commiseration to our guilty race, agreed for our 
sakes, to accept a substitute that was 1 not infinite : in 
that case, Christ, not being God, might properly un- 
dertake and carry through the wcrk;of redemption 
for us. But this thwarts and contradicts all the gen- 
eral and special operations of the Holy Ghost; for 
whenever the spirit of God is poured out in plenti- 
ful effusions upon a people, they are all convinced at 
once, that they are sinners ; and these sinners uni- 
formly recognize the Lord Jesus, not only as the Sa- 
viour of men, but as the Eternal Jehovah ; and con- 
sider themselves as condemned by the divine law, 
and justly obnoxious to the eternal wrath and ven- 
geance of the Almighty. 

■* Thus you see, that the Spirit of God, in applying, 
what you would otherwise call, the plan of redemp- 
tion, directly overthrows it, and brings confusion 
upon your whole system. And thus we prove, that 
by the operationsof the Spirit of God, it is demonstrat- 
ed unquestionably, that Christ is the eternal Jehovah. 
This is our fourth argument. 

Again we say, That if God has so lowered the 
terms of the penalty of the divine law, as it respects 
sinning man, thcji we contend, that God has actually 
compromitted sin, as to us. Then we say, that sin is 
not an infinite evil, and that there is no definite stan- 
dard by which we can determine the turpitude there- 
of. This being true, it remains an entire uncertain- 
ty, whether or not, God will not provide more sub- 
stitutes for sinners, and sin will be varied, raised or 
lowered, in his moral creation just as he-sees fit ; it 
may be reduced to any rule, and brought down, upon 
occasion, to be the mere play-toys of children ! And 



228 

thus bring destruction, .and throw confusion and 
dreadful uncertainty, not only through the whole 
christian world, but throughout the moral system of 
the universe ! A doctrine so glaring, and absurd, we 
presume you will no longer abet. While by our 
fifth argument, we trust that we have proved the di- 
vinity of Jesus. 

Do any of our fellow creatures require any more 
evidence, on this all important subject, then we re- 
fer them to the sacred volume of divine inspiration, 
which is as full of evidence, to our purpose, as the 
horizon is full of light, when the sun is in the me- 
ridian, in a clear shining day. 

Passing the probability of death, by the propaga- 
tion of this doctrine through the christian world, and 
the promulgation of the same through this land, we 
leave all in the hands of Him who governs all things e 
And proceed on in our address to the clergy ; and 
say, Ministers do you love your people ? then do 
you endeavour to feed them with the bread of life, 
People do you love your ministers ? then be ready 
to communicate to their necessities, in all those good 
things with which God has entrusted you. Minis- 
ters do you love your people ? then discover all their 
spiritual wants, and necessities, and attend to them 
^immediately; pouring the oil and wine of divine 
consolation into their wounded hearts. People do 
you love your ministers ? then attend to all their tem- 
poral and spiritual wants : and see that you do not 
muzzle the mouth of the ox that treacle th out the 
corn. 

The minister will see that it will be at ail times 
necessary to provide and proportion his spiritual meat, 
according to the temperament of the souls of his pa- 
rishioners. The babe he will feed with milk. And 
the strong man with meat. The babe will be in- 
structed in plain, easy, and doctrinal points ; his ar- 
guments should be cogent, obvious, and readily un- 
derstood. Free from embarrassments, metaphysics, 
or mystery. Seeming to take the poor creature by 
the hand, and lea^I him 4a the way everlasting, ani. 



229 

guide him into all truth. Lead him to the word, say 
craments, and prayer. Ali, or any of which, may be 
made effectual to him for salvation. He must let 
him know that he is his spiritual father and guide. 
And that his house shall be his asylum against the 
scoffs and sneers of an unfavourable and ungodly 
world. And against the violent assaults of Satan, 
and all his dark and wicked designs ; he, as his min- 
ister and spiritual physician, according to his best 
abilities, will deal out to him antidotes against the 
poison of Satan, and do his best endeavour to furnish 
him from grace's magazine, with the whole armour 
of God. — And as he is a lamb in Christ's flock, so, 
like his divine Lord and Master, he must gently 
take him in his arms and carry him along in his spir- 
itual way, and seem to be pleased with his progress 
in spiritual things, and talk encouraging to him, just 
like a father to his little children. This must be the 
milk of the babe. And as he grows in strength, so it 
will be proper to increase his food. To you,0 spir- 
itual guide, we commit the babe. — But to the strefig 
man you may deal out meat. Strong in intellect, 
strong in grace, or strong in both. To the strong 
man in intellect you will deliver the strong- meat of 
argument. Persuasive discourse. Cogent reasons. 
Clear elucidations, and well connected propositions. 
Accompanied with forbearance and constant expres- 
sions of friendship ; not so much in words as in ac^ 
lion. Let him see that you desire his good. Do 
not degrade or undervalue his abilities. Set him on 
equal ground with yourself, if he deserve it. Do 
not be harsh or censorious. Gain his affections by all 
means. He will be a worthy friend to you. May 
be he will soon be a Christian advancing in grace, 
and you may be mutual helps to each other to the 
grave: and then thou hast gained thy brother. 

Your religious arguments with him will all be 
clear, perspicuous, evident ; not crowded with am- 
biguities and dark mysteries ; such as you know 
nothing of yourself. Your propositions and decla- 
rations must not only be s$id, but proved. Your 
21 



230 

merely saying so, will not convince this man of in- 
tellect ; he must see the truth of it, as brought from 
the holy scriptures, and the reason of things-; and 
made to acquiesce in it as suitable and just : other- 
wise your meat will be too strong for him, he will 
nauseate it, and cannot digest it ; and finally will be 
lead to be disgusted with you on that account : and 
you will lose your influence over him. 

The next man who will fall under our considera- 
tion, who is under the instruction of his minister, is 
the man who is strong in grace. To him the minis- 
ter may say almost any thing, and almost in any way. 
He has learnt to gather the good into vessels, and to 
cast the bad away. He is sound in the faith, and 
therefore none of these things move him. He 
knows that his Redeemer lives, and that he will 
stand on the earth in the latter day. He feels that 
his name is written in the Lamb's book of life ; and 
that in his Father's house are many mansions. He 
abounds in charity and all the christian graces. He 
is fervent in spirit serving the Lord. He has a well 
regulated zeal which is truly according to knowl- 
edge. He loves all men, more especially the house- 
hold of faith. He wishes to be like the sun in the 
firmament, irradiating the world, but never exhaust- 
ed ; he commiserates the distresses of his fellow 
creatures, and hastens to their relief, and when his 
personal presence with them becomes difficult, or 
impossible, he takes out two pence and gives to the 
host* saying take care of him , and whatsoever thou 
sjiendest more x when I come again I vAU repay thee* 

He seeks all opportunities for doing good, and 
applies ail the means in his power for the relief of 
his fellow creatures. And all are ready to rise up 
and call him blessed. He is constantly discipiing 
for Jesus ; never does he feel so well as when he is 
engaged in his Master's service. He is able and 
willing to counsel his rnyiister ; and is as willing to 
be counselled in his turn. He does not say to the 
poor man be warmed and filled and g ! vo him net 
suqh things as are necessary for the body.— -He has 



231 

delightful communion with God, and it may be with 
holy angels too ; and this wonderfully strengthens 
his faith, and lifts him up towards heaven. And he 
assimilates into the divine character, and feels him- 
self meetening for heaven. — He treads the world 
under foot, — and when he examines his graces he 
finds them all testimonials of his safe state. Then 
he mounts a stage higher, and so he will continue to 
do until the heavens receive him. 

We shall now speak of the man who is strong 
both in intellect and grace. Wonderful sight ! The 
brightest transcript of the divine being, that we shall 
ever find in animal life below the clouds. No doubt 
he is peculiarly pleasing to angels ; and they hover 
about him with more than common ecstacy : and the 
man must be fraught with stirrer weapons Gf super- 
stition than I can wield, to defend him from all those 
holy and wonderful impressions, which may be made, 
cither on his mind, or his body, in their wonderful 
motions of agility by the holy guardians. 

I cannot conceive how we come to be so super- 
stitious, that we will blindly and stupidly ward 6(F 
from our souls the heavenly impulse, and the gentle 
sympathies of those sons of light ! While they fly on 
- such benevolent errands, ready to cherish every 
spark of grace within us. and remark all our sorrow- 
ful strayings from the path of duty with grief, were 
they susceptible of it. — They smile and fly with holy 
alacrity, whenever they see us returning to our hea- 
venly Father's house. May be, that some of our dear 
godly friends are among them ; how readily would 
they perform the kind office ef saving. lie maketk 
kis angels spirits^ and his ministers aflame of fire. 

So you see that nothing more is requisite to 
make an angel than to make a spirit. And so the 
term is used alternately throughout sacred writ. 
Now we have prepared the way to the full belief, 
that our deceased godly friends may, in case we are 
truly religious, and are persevering towards heaven, 
for aught that we know, or have any reason to con- 
jecture, be appointed our guardian and ministering 



232 

spirits ; and are actually sent down to conduct us a^ 
long the road to glory. Ravishing thought ! Won- 
derful creatures ! Matchless grace ! 

Hear the apostle's words on the subject : Are they 
not all ministering sfiirits, sent forth to minister to 
those who shall be heirs of salvation ? Now what is 
ti>is all but the all of heaven, or, as many of them, 
as the Father of lights shall see fit to appoint to these 
services. O what attendants worms of the dust have i 

But we are coming more explicitly to the state 
^of the man, strong in intellect and strong in grace. 
He is of 'quick understanding, powerful sagacity, 
deep thought, a searching penetration, accurate judg- 
ment, wonderful power of discriminating, dissecting 
and anatomising, florid wit, lively and strong imagi- 
nation, blooming cheerfulness., angelic sweetness* 
and all beautified with grace. 

And with all these natural, moral and intellectual 
powers, and heavenly furniture and attendance, he 
starts his chariot-wheels for Mount Zion. Starts* 
did I say I Not so. He is only moving forward ; he 
started in infancy, or in the vigour of youth: for* 
■wherever God ^would make a great Christian, he 
generally nips his sins in the bud ; and the little 
creature is obliged to give God the deto of his youth, 
as well as of his riper years, and the whole current 
of his life. Glorious encouragement for young peo- 
ple 1 Those iv ho seek me early shall find me. 

My young friends, you all wish to be great; here 

is an opportunity for you to be great to purpose. — 

And you would wish never to tarnish your honours, 

' —nor have them tarnished, — Then this is the way to 

keep them eternally bright. 

But methinks I hear some of you say, yoil are 
quite off from your subject. — We thought you was 
i>;olng to tell us of the advantages of the great and 
good man, in time and eternity. It was my subject, 
I acknowledge it— I will now attempt it, according 
to my feeble ability. First then, he sits on an emi- 
nence above his fellows in the spiritual world, — and 



233 

one of his greatest attainments is, he is not igno- 
rant of sata?i's devices. 

How super-eminent ! Not being ignorant of s.atan's 
devices ; by the same rule, he is not ignorant of the 
devices of his emissaries. What an advantage ! By 
the same rule also, he is able to detect falsehood ; to 
point out error and mistake, descry false and fiery 
zeal, fanaticism, frenzy, delusion of every descrip- 
tion—to denounce spurious faith — to separate the 
precious from the viie — the hojyfrom the profane. 

And now say, my friend, whether this man has 
not the advantage over his fellow creatures. But, 
we will soon show you more of him. 

Elevated in state,' tie becomes elevated in thought, 
- — elevated in soul — elevated in every act— he is 
pure, rational and clear; and, if you will not think 
me too presumptuous, I will say, that he is Godlike. 
He loves his fellow men, and converses with them; 
he loves glorified saints and angels, and no doubt, in 
some direct, or indirect way, he converses with them. 
He supremely loves the holy God ; and wonderfully 
converses with him. He loves and pities sinners ; 
but he hates their sins ; he hates, loathes and abhors 
himself on account of his own sins. If he is called 
to sit in judgment on the case of his fellow creature, 
with scrupulous exactness? he endeavours to do hira 
right ; he is as far from injuring his fellow mortal, as 
himself. He adheres exactly to the short, but gol- 
den rule — As ye would that men should do to you> do 
ye also to them likewise. 

All his conduct on a religious scheme, is noble, 
and full of meaning. The babe in Christ, relates to 
him his christian experience, he receives it with a 
smile, knowing that it is all no more, if so much, as 
the first dawnings of his own heavenly day ; he then 
undertakes to relate to the baj^e his own experience 
• — The babe calls him a- madman, an imaginary, a 
deluded and enthusiastic creature, — and says, con- 
cerning every inch of ground that he has travelled 
beyond him, — this is all strark nought. He will then 
cry out, To the law, and to the testimony } not con- 
21 * 



234 

sidering but that he is a perfect master of both. Yes> 
this system that will for ever puzzle angels, he seems 
to himself to understand perfectly— The grea: Chris- 
tian smiles at him, and goes on his way rejoicing, 
applying to him the old maxim, that a less cannot 
comprehend, or fill a greater. 

O thou babe in Christ, for so I must call thee? 
whether thy years are few, or many ; or, whether 
thou canst make out a long period since thy con- 
version, or not ; still it would be almost as preposte- 
rous to undertake to vie with this man, with whom 
thou art conversing, as with an angel of light. Kis 
whole life has been a school of divinity — lie has giv- 
en a holy and sublime comment in ever living char- 
acters. 

His very face shines with holiness, like the face of 
God's holy servant, when he came down from the 
mount, — his very demeanour is angelic, — Christ is 
his Pole Star. He sails over the billows of time 
with a holy composure ; — it becomes his meat and 
his drink to do the will of his heavenly Father. 

His faith is so wonderful, that if he partake of the 
heavenly banquet, like Elijah of old, he can go in the 
strength of that meat forty days ; to Horeb the 
mount of God— And thus he goes on progressing 
upward, until God meets him, with his chariots of 
fire and horses of fire, and* his soul makes him like 
the chariots of Aminnadib. — And then God places 
him on a high seat, and gives him a bright crown in 
the heavens ; and makes him a king and a priest to 
live and reign with him forever. And thus comes 
the death of the righteous man ; who would not with 
Balaam wish it, that his lust end might be like his I 

But it is time that we hasten to drop a word to 
the Christless soul, whoever,, and wherever he may- 
he . The infinite importance of our subject forbids 
all apology. Well! Christless soul! What think 
you of Christ ? Whose Son is he ? The son of David 
do you say ? And is he not the Son of God too ? If 
fee is a Lamb that stands on the Mount Zign of God 3 



233 

is he not the Lion of the tribe of Judah ? Terrible la 
tear and destroy ! 

What will be the consternation and horror of all 
those who are not interested in his favour ? When 
he tears the strong pillars of heaven, with his Al- 
mighty voice ; and with the sound of the trump of 
the Archangel ! — breaks the repose of princes, and 
the dead awake ! Can thy heart endure, or thy hands 
be strong in that solemn and tremendous day when 
he shall undertake to deal with thee ? Ah ! methinks 
%[ almost hear thee crying to the rocks and mountains 
to fall on us, and hide us from the face of him thai 
sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the 
Lamb, For the great day of his wrath is come, and 
who shall be able to standi Fruitless call I As much 
so as the call of Christ and his ambassadors is to 
you, from sabbath to sabbath, and from year to year? 
■to refient and be converted. 

Then try to secure an asylum from his wrath, 
without having rocks and mountains fall. on you* 
Hear I for a moment, the Omnipotent 1 Omniscient I 
and Omnipresent God ! 

Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand 
take them; though they climb up, to heaven, thence 
will I bring them down. And though they hide them~ 
selves in the toji of Carmel, I will search and take . 
them out thence ; and though they be hid from my 
sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command 
the serpent, and he shall bite them. Thus you see, 
O sinner, that you are eternally confounded ; what 
then may be your next project ? Do you think to 
grapple with Almighty vengeance ? Do you think to 
run on the thick bosses of God's buckler ? Have you 
come to a determination to defy Omnipotence ? Do 
you believe that he who thundered the rebel angels 
out of heaven, cannot make your bands strong ; and 
chain you down prisoners of wrath, forever to asso- 
ciate with those grand apostates ? 

Perhaps you have come to a determination to make 
your bed in hell— to lie down as patiently, and as ea- 
sily as possible, in those devouring flames ; and ha?-.. 



236 

3en yourselves in those tortures, by a constant and 
firm endurance. O methinks you will want brazen 
nerves and iron sinews for all this ! O the inflexible 
wrath of God i Quenchless flames ! What ! Devils 
too, for companions ! Almost a hell in forethought ! 

Now what need of all this ? Are we bound to these 
flames ? No, by no means. We should have been, 
were it not for our surety. He alone has rescued us, 
by shedding his own precious blood. Now, will you 
force your way t€ hell, through the ocean of Christ's 
blood, that so wonderfully rolls between you and the 
burning pit ? If so, you will burn dreadfully conspic- 
uous ! Why will not you hear the calls of mercy, that 
cry from every drop of this blood ? Why will not 
you set yourselves about the great work, immediate- 
ly, afcd perseveringly, of turning to God, and doing 
works meet for repentance. Do not think to say, 
that we have Abraham to our father, and boast y©ur- 
seives of external privileges; for God is able, although 
he send you to hell, to raise up children to Abraham. 

And besides, the axe is now laid to the root of the 
tree — Do not flatter yourselves that he will not cut 
it down ; he has done so by the old world — with So- 
dom and Gomorrah, and the cities of the plain — un- 
numbered thousands of your own species, who pre- 
sumed on the mercy of God, as much as you do. — 
Remember, his justice is inexorable, and you must 
lie in prison, till you have paid the last mite. Flee 
then, the wrath to come. Do not stand dallying with 
Satan. Do not dream of any thing but torture in the 
world of woe ! make no truce. Form no. alliance 
^vith the arch fiend. Do Hot suffer him to apply his 
infernal opiates, to lull you asleep, to stupify and be- 
numb your senses, and your conscience ; while he 
fixes his diabolical grapple upon you, and drags you 
downward to the burning gulf. 

Beware of the arch deceiver ! Kis stratagems, for 
the destruction of souls, are every thing but infinite ! 
Do not flatter yourselves that you can do any thing 
to ward off his assaults, without special aid from the 
upper world. Do not undertake to sport with this 



237 

burning- meteor of Divine vengeance ; le'st you should 
get wofully scorched. 

Come, I will reason with you for a moment, in 
somewhat of a familiar and scriptural style. What 
will you do, in that solemn and tremendous day, 
when you will know, once for all, that your soul is 
lost I To which one of the sons of perdition will you 
turn, in these excrutiating moments ? 

Better to familiarize yourselves with hell torments 
now, while the door of escape and mercy is open, 
than that you should be forced to it, in the land that 
is far away, on the other side of death and the grave, 
where the doors are forever shut ! 

Then we will proceed, and say, Can a man take five 
in his bosom, and his clothes not be burnt ? Can one 
go on hot coals, and his feet not be burnt ? 

Can you succeed any better in the burning world 
below ? Perhaps you will say this is all a bugbear™ 
there is no such thing as material fire in the invisible 
world. Who told you so ? God has 'not certainly 
He has said expressly, that death and hell are cast 
into the lake of fire. Preposterous the idea ! to sup- 
pose that God cannot accommodate material fire to 
the torments of the new-raised body, and to the soul 
too, in its connection with it ; when we are expressly 
told, that the s?noke of their torment ascendeth ufi 
forever and ever. And we also read in holy writ, of 
being cast into a lake of fire and brimstone, where 
the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tor- 
mented day and night forever and ever. 

And now what have you lo do, O man, to with- 
stand all these declarations of hira who cannot lie. 

But suppose we should admit your supposition for 
a moment, though awfully presumptuous, that there 
is no material fire in the spiritual world ; yet how 
* would this help the matter, since God determines to 
v make a display of his vindictive vengeance on a 
world of incorrigible offenders, and hold up, to the 
view of the universe, an awful and eternal monitor 
against sin ? 

It matters not whether this burning is material? or- 



238 

whether it is the burnings of the wrath of God. It 
matters not, O sinner, if we are lost, whether we are 
forever sinking clown in the bottomless pit, accord- 
ing to our literal ideas of the same ; or whether we 
are set on fire by the wrath of God, and driven 
around the universe, as frightful monuments of the 
divine displeasure, to deter all worlds from sin, and 
in obedience to the commands of God. For it is 
highly probable, that God will, when it is too late to 
subserve his glory in our salvation, make us subser- 
vient to his glory, in our everlasting destruction ; 
iind that he will; somewhat in conformity to the usa- 
ges of human tribunals, make our execution public, 
to deter others from offending. 

O ! my hearth Who can bear up under the thought ! 

And now what canst thou do with theblack prince 
ef darkness, as he approaches thee with' instruments of 
torture in his hand to distress thee, and a deadly ma- 
lignity in his eyes to frighten thee ?. And now should 
we be alio wed, and could we in this case, and with- 
out the least possible sin or irreverence of the Divine 
Being or his holy word, which must always be our 
central point, around which we must move — I say, 
should we be allowed to make use of the self same 
language, concerning this great Leviathan of hell, 
which Jehovah made use of concerning Leviathan of 
the great deep, in his holy challenge to Job ; and 
could we certainly know that it is perfectly agreeable 
to the mind and will of God, that we might change 
the expressions concerning Leviathan, and apply 
them to this dreadful malicious being ; then, with 
the deepest submission and profoundest reverence to 
the Divine Being, we might say, Canst thou draw 
cut Leviathan with an hook^ or his tongue with a cord 
which thou lettest down ? Canst thou f mi an hook in- 
to his nose ? or bore his jaw through with a thorn ? 

Vain attempt ! 

Will he make many sufijilications unto thee ? 

Directly the reverse ! 

Will he speak soft words unto thee? 

Terrible words ! 



239 

Will he make a covenant with thee P 

Distressing covenant! 

Or y wilt thou take him for a servant forever P 

Dreadful servant ! 

Wilt thou play with him, as with a bird? 

Dismal play ! 

Or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens P 

Strong* cord ! 

Shall thy companions make a banquet of him P 

Mournful banquet ! 

Shall they part him among the merchants P 

Deadly shares ! 

Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons P 

Hopeless attempt ! 

Grids head wit It fish spears P 

Despairing thought ! 

And now, should the Almighty speak to us mralt 
those dreadful interrogatives, that he did to poor 
trembling Job; and the object should be Satan, 
or the roaring Hon of the world below, instead of Le- 
viathan of the great deep— how more than over- 
whelming and soul-confounding would every expres- 
sion be. 

Fly then the hideous monster, and the regions ©f 
woe ; come up then to the bright side, and consider 
yourself as a probationer for immortal glory. Re- 
solve that you will never revisit those dark and drea- 
ry scenes, which we have just left, but in imagination 
only; or as a preventative to keep you from going 
to them. All holy beings are wishing your welfare 
-—Christians cannot bear that you should perish. An- 
gels cannot bear that you should perish. Jehovah is, 
riot willing that. you should perish. He has cleared 
himself of your death, by an oath. As I live> saith 
the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the 
wicked. ; but that che wicked turn from his way and 
live. Turn ye f turn ye from your evil way*: ; for 
why will ye die y O house of Israel. Your fellow-men, 
those of- them who are sanctified in part, are sin- 
cerely wishing your return ; counseling, warning, 
and entreating of you to be reconciled to God. Mor- 



240 

ning and evening' they are spreading out their hands 
before the throne of grace ; that God would have 
mercy on you, reclaim and sanctify you, and bring 
you out of darkness into his marvellous light ; and 
set your feet ujion a rock, and establish your goings. 
The ambassadors of Jesus join their voice and say, 
We then are ambassadors for Christ, as though God 
did beseech you by us, we firay you in Christ's stead, 
be ye reconciled to God. The sfiirit and the bride 
say come, and let him that heareth say come, and let 
him that is athirst come, and whosoever will, let him 
take of the water of life freely. 

No doubt too, the holy angels with their gentle 
whispers would say come ; for they greatly rejoice 
whenever a sinner does come. And the Infinite Je- 
hovah, the Lord of angels, says Behold, I have fire- 
pared ?ny dinner, my oxen and my failings are killed, 
and all things are ready, come unto the marriage. 

And now, O sinner, will you sink down to destruc- 
tion, notwithstanding there are so many props to hold 
you up, so many hands held out to prevent it \ wq 
hope not. 

Then attempt, a song of thanksgiving to God, and 
start for the Canaan above. And may the Lord 
prosper your way. The first step is to call in divine 
aid, and make a violent struggle, to twist yourselves 
out of satan's clutches. For he still holds a secret 
influence upon you, fascinating and bewitching to the 
last degree. You must have no negociations, no 
dallying, no continuances for further hearing. You 
must come to open rupture, put on a hostile appear- 
ance, and under your great Captain-General, .pro- 
claim eternal war. And you must be perpetually, 
and inflexibly bent, in carrying it on, until death and 
victory. 

Strange conquest ! 

The next step will be to enter the field of medi- 
tation and reflection, with deep and solemn thought. 
You will here learn what you have escaped from, and 
what you may hopefully obtain, by a diligent and 
cpnstant perseverance in duty, according to the die 



241 

fates of a sound well informed mind. With a pray- 
erful disposition to the great head of the church. 

As you move forward you will soon discover the 
terrors of Mount Sinai, and the dismai scenes that 
attend the promulgation of the law, which is deliv- 
ered in thundering accents. Before this you must 
fall, and flee to Mount Zion, and receive the blood 
of sprinkling. You will now open the volume of 
divine inspiration, which is fraught with promises 
to sinners such as you. You are entitled to all the 
help that can be obtained from earth. Heaven, like- 
wise, will be propitious to you, if you arc sober, sol- 
emn and earnest in your addresses tp the Most 
High. You will have the common and restraining 
influences of the Spirit of God, and it is probable in 
niany instances, the special agency of the Holy Ghost i 
What helps ! Can you perish with all these advan- 
tages ? Can you lie down in sorrow, when so much 
is clone for your everlasting welfare ? Can you break 
down so many barriers in your way to perdition ? 
Can you wring the hearts of your parents and godly 
friends, by wilfully shutting your eyes and your ears, 
against all parental and mediatorial calls ? Can you 
drop hoodwinked into the yawning gulf below ? or 
more stubbornly pursue your path down the awful 
declivity, from whence there is no return ! No, my 
brethren, we hope better things of you, though we 
thus speak ; and things that accompany salvation. 
. We hope you will return to Christ in earnest— 
We hope you will girve all diligence to make your 
calling and election sure — We hope you will fight 
manfully the good fight of faith—We hope you will 
come off conquerors I 

We have told you before that you will have to 
wage open, perpetual, and eternal war with the Devil 
and all his emissaries !~Methinks I hear you say, 
how can I undertake this 1 — This, you must expect 
something more than this — You will have to wage 
war with yourself too. Hard terms. No wonder so 
ruany fail. 



242 

We will explain. Previous to your regeneration 
and adoption into the family of God, you are a pu- 
trid mass of stench and corruption, without one liv- 
ing principle within you. Dead and moveless as the 
rotten carcass that swarms with vermin I Obnoxious 
to the divine wrath and vengeance of God as the 
most venomous serpent is to your hate, and quick 
killing hand ! — Now judge, whether an Almighty 
work must not pass upon you, before you are fit to 
join the pure society above I This warfare will com- 
mence by the Almighty's planting within you a new 
and living principle, which we emphatically style a 
principle of grace. This principle once implanted 
within you, will never be utterly extinct. These 
two principles, therefore, viz. The living a%id the 
dead y for you must consider this death is a spiritual 
death, will always be contesting. For this rotten 
carcass, as dead as it is in spiritual things, is all alive 
in sinful and worldly things ; which may be truly 
represented by the vermin before spoken of. And 
now judge whether I told you the truth, when I told 
you that you must war with yourselves ; inasmuch, 
as this living principle is continually drawing you 
upwards to the world of light : and the dead prin- 
ciple drawing you downwards to the world of dark- 
ness. 

This whole warfare is carried on by the Spirit of 
the Most High, and the dictates of conscience in the 
human breast, on the one part, and by the world} the 
fiesh and the devil, on the other : and sometimes the 
struggle is very great. But this living principle 
once obtained in the human breast, ensures immor- 
tal success and endless victory to its owner, It will 
be constantly watered from the fountain above, and 
consequently increasing. And, indeed, it will be a 
well of water of itself, springing u/i into everlasting 
life, in the soul of its possessor; and by small, yet 
painful degrees, will wash away all the filth, stench, 
and pollution of the soul ; and take away all its fil- 
thy garments ; as the filthy garments of Joshua the 
high priest were taken away, when he stood before 



243 

the Lord. And it will prepare the soul to join the 
concert of angels and glorified beings above. — But 
stop .!— 

We have past by a very considerable part of our 
subject, and one of infinite momem too — I mean 
that of the sinner's being first alarmed in the camp 
of Satan ; and his first attempts to get rid of the fell 
tyrant. Ail awake, he is filled with dreadful appre- 
hensions, and makes great and violent struggles. 
Religion he must now have, or he is undone ; Satan 
sets his emissaries upon him, attacks him front and 
rear ; and plies his infernal opiates to kill him, but 
all avails nothing — go forward he <witt y and calls 
aloud for mercy — and uses all the means appointed* 
-—and says,religion I must have. Now look out ! 

If religion you will have, Satan will determine, as 
much as in him lies, that your religion shall not be 
such as will save your soul : but such as will best 
answer his diabolical purpose of destroying you and 
the works of God in you. All his infernal projects 
are now at work, to invent a religion that is most 
agreeable to your taste, nature, inclination, passions, 
affections, and general bias of mind. 

We are now come to the rock on which probably 
thousands and tens of thousands of the human race 
have split, and are lost forever. Beware of the soul 
deceiver ! The murderer of souls ! Look out for his 
stratagems from every quarter. 

Perhaps his first attempt will be to drive you to 
despair; to cloud your mind and imagination with 
dreary and distressing thoughts of God and his sove- 
reign grace, and in this way cause you to sin against 
God, by actually disputing his mercy as it relates to 
you in particular. Possibly he may tempt you to 
Commit suicide, and so cut off your hopes in this 
way ; or at least, to bring you to this determination, 
as to say and think — Well — If I am to be saved I 
shall be saved ; and if I am to be damned I shall be 
damned ; and so it will do me no good to try any fur- 
ther ; and I may as well give up all anxiety about the 
matter. Fatal yielding ! This is one of his ways in 



244 

mining the soul. And it is not a very bard mattet 
for this man to relapse into his former state, and re* 
turn like a dog to his vomit, and the sow that was 
washed to her wallowing in the mire. 

The next powerful engine that Satan -will proba- 
bly make use of, — Perhaps, however, we shall not ar- 
range these deceptions just according to the plan of 
the old seducer, but we believe, notwithstanding, we 
shall bring up the substance of them to view: — • 

Then we wiil proceed and say, that the next pow- 
erful engine of the old serpent for the ruin of souls 
in this stage of their probation, is, a subtle and art- 
ful management of the holy scriptures. For we 
may suppose him wonderfully versed therein ; for 
he is emphatically styled the roaring lion who goes 
about seeking whom he maij devour ; and as the holy 
scriptures, accompanied by the agency of the Holy 
Ghost, are the principal means by which God is car- 
rying on the great work of redemption ; and as Sa- 
tan's most deadly and inveterate malice is levelled 
against this scheme, endeaveurjng to obstruct it, and 
is constantly busy in the same : so, we must suppose 
him profoundly acquainted with them. And this 
being the case, should God give him a permit, 
through their instrumentality, he may make dreadful 
havoc of the soul ; and the words of holy scripture 
being powerfully imprest on the mind from time to 
time, by the father of lies, the poor subject of them 
may be utterly deluded : and the delusion be s© 
much the stronger, as it appears to come from the 
infinite God, in applying his own holy word, directly 
in confirmation of their faith, and their eternal wel- 
fare ; but not a particle of grace, or holiness attends 
it! 

O refined and deadly delusion ! Another powerful 
engine which Satan may probably make use of, for 
the ruin of the soul, is, a system of reform. For as 
the sinner being brought near to Mount Sinai, and 
hearing the dreadful thunders of the law, and know- 
ing that he cannot answer the demands of the brok- 
en law, lie feels at once the necessity of a mediator^ 



245 

or of becoming more holy, or both, in order to ena- 
ble him to stand before God. Consequently, he is 
willing to take up with the righteousness and atone- 
ment of Christ, in part, for his justification and ac- 
ceptance with God ; and the other part is patched up 
out of his own righteousness, "and he immediately 
sets himself about it. He leaves off swearing, in a 
measure, and lying, stealing, and other outward, no- 
torious and heinous crimes ; if he has been addicted 
to them ; and puts the curb upon his lusts, becomes 
circumspect ; — and from this time he becomes, in 
his own view, a pretty holy and good man. He at- 
tends to the external part of religion, und glides 
smoothly down the current of time ; his conscience 
having ceased to remonstrate in so powerful a man- 
ner as formerly, and he not having one spark of grace 
to buoy him up, he suddenly shoots the gulf of eter- 
nal perdition, and so perishes with a lie in his right 
hand. 

Another powerful engine of Satan, for the ruin of 
souls, is, a lulling it asleep, within the circumference 
of its own righteousness, and never suffering it to 
awake, and so strangely benumbing its faculties, and 
callousing it over, that all the shafts that fly against 
sin, from the providences, word, and spirit of God, 
and the sharp-pointed arrows of remonstrance from 
fellow worms, have no kind of effect upon it, but to 
harden. The devil saying to the man, God you know 
is a reasonable being, and requires no more than 
your reasonable service ; and if you render him that, 
that is all you can do ; and if you are an expectant 
of grace, and supernatural operations, you must wait 
God's time, who works all things according to the 
counsel of his own will — and so the poor creature 
falls more effectually asleep, and sleeps the sleep of 
death. 

Another powerful engine, by which Satan ruins 
the souls of men, is, consulting the natural constitu- 
tion, aptitudes, and fluids of the body. By heating 
the passions, warming the affections, and raising il- 
lusions in the fancy, or imagination ; bv causine, at 
22 * 



246 

this strained pitch of the mind, appearances of ma* 
reriail beings, such as the appearance of God, in a 
certain form, Christ, hoty* angels, and the like. The 
man fancying himself like a person in a dream, de- 
lirium, or fever; surrounded with these appearan- 
ces, who have discovered themselves to him on be- 
nevolent purposes — this may fix a lasting impression 
on his mind, that he has met with something very 
remarkable, and wonderfully in his favour. He ac- 
cordingly fancies himself a good man, or God would 
never have discovered himself so to him. His mind, 
of course, becomes habitually agitated with this sub- 
ject, and when he fixes on it intensely, his imagina- 
tion is strong, and he in some measure renews the 
scenes. This gives him new confirmation and 
strength ; he now really concludes himself a favour- 
ite of heaven, and no longer seems to doubt of his 
good state. He now believes himself called, and 
immediately commences preacher, apostle, prophet, 
&c. And some of them may proceed to the most 
unwarranted and extravagant acts, while others may 
walk the downward road of life, with a tolerable de- 
gree of decorum and prudence. But in all this there 
is nothing that is spiritual. Nothing coherent. 
They can give you no regular ideas concerning it — 
nor rehearse any thing of substance belonging toil— 
nor relate any communications from it, that are me- 
thodical. They seem to be absorbed in confusion 
and doubt about it themselves. They say, all that I 
can tell you about it, is, I felt gloriously! I had a 
wonderful discovery! It seemed just as though 
Something spoke, and told me, Your peace is made 
Tvith God — you have nothing to fear — Satan cannot 
hurt you, and the like. I will now endeavour to 
show you, that there is nothing spiritual in all this, 
unless you will call Satan's influence on the human 
machine, spiritual. 

In the first place then, spiritual views are more or 
less clear and perfect, and are of a more enlarged 
and exalted nature, than any thing material, and be- 
longing to the earth ; and if holy? serve wonderfu-JJy 



247 

to invigorate and refine the mind, and make it more 
athletic, and powerful in divine things. This man 
becomes more profound, and argues more strongly, 
and sees more clearly the nature of heavenly things, 
the nearer he approaches to God. If God make any 
special communications by language to him, these 
communications will be clear, definite and perfect ; 
and .all tending to one point, clothed in a language 
that becomes Jehovah. Nothing dark, doubtful, or 
ambiguous about it : not like the temple at Delphos, 
and other idolatrous temples of the east, whose ora- 
cles were unquestionably moved and vociferated by 
infernal agency ; which frequently ended in the vio- 
lent death of the Sybil who uttered them ; and were 
always dark, and of doubtful meaning. Here is an- 
other trait of Satan's character — to kill and destroy. 
But we fully believe that there are no such literal 
communications made to man, by the Supreme Be- 
ing at this day, nor in any other way, but by the lead- 
ing influence of the word and spirit of God. 

But all the first mentioned imaginations may be 
purely delusive, and fatal to the soul. 

Another powerful engine of Satan, for the ruin of 
souls, is, his persuading the man to believe, in order 
to his being a Christian, and having an inheritance 
among the saints in light, he must think, speak, and 
act, just like the devil 1 And in this way he will stand 
fairer for salvation than the moralist; or in other 
words, to do evil that good may come. Whose dam- 
nation is just. Stupendous deception ! Satan's mas- 
terpiece ! But this man's case is so heaven-daring, 
that 1 shall spend no more time upon it, than merely 
to ask, Are there not whole hosts in this way, whom 
Satan leads captive at his will ? 

Another powerful engine of Satan, for the destruc- 
tion of human souls, is, the belief in that cruel and 
soul-destroying doctrine which we have reason to 
fear has already ruined its millions ; — I mean the in» 
fallibility of the Pope, and church of Rome. Yes, 
the Pope! Holy Pontiff ! Holy Father ! Vicar of 
Christ ! Successor of St. Peter I— as he himself; and 



248 

his poor deluded followers are wont to style him : 
But is he not more properly the Man of Sin — Anti- 
christ—Successor of Pride — Superstition — Bigotry- 
Murder — Vicegerent of the Devil ! Even him , whose 
coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, 
and signs, and lying wonders. 

Rue then by thousands, tear the veil from your fa- 
ces and the scales from your eyes, and demand to be 
led instantly to the knowledge of the holy scriptures, 
in their own true and literal meaning; and read for 
yourselves the worth of the soul and the almost infi- 
nite danger of losing it, and this without the darken- 
ing microscope of Papal superstition and bigotry; — 
then methinks you would not much sooner consent 
to be a Papist, than to be a firebrand in the world be- 
low. Look over the black catalogue of blood and 
snurder with which your church has been stained for 
ages, and come out from among them, and be ye sep- 
arate, and touch not the unclean thing ; the Protes- 
tant churches are longing to receive you, and that 
you come into the sheepfold of Christ. 

And now I wiii ask your chief, Will you? Can 
you ? Dare you I add another victim to the great sa- 
crifice of the Innocents ! Will you still continue to 
roil out your anathemas, and hurl down fire and thun- 
der, from your self-fabricated heaven, upon your poor 
trembling, devoted victim ? And are you not afraid, 
that He, who thunders in the heavens, will bye and 
bye laugh at your calamity ; and the Lord shall have 
you in derision. Fly then this awful place in a mo- 
ment, and no longer dare ;o infringe Divine Prerog- 
atives. 

This is the man, or rather the monster, who sits 
in the temple of God, dispensing with crimes against 
Jehovah. O shocking ! And to a world of rebels al- 
ready obnoxious to Divine and Eternal vengeance. 
Selling indulgences to sin— O horrid ! No name 
for it, among human beings. What ! generation af- 
ter generation, fooled in this way to perdition ! Age 
after age, blindfolded and hoodwinked, until immor- 
tal, ruin awakens them I 



249 

Do you think your Pope believes this himself?—-* 
that he can pardon, and pass by sins, and give you a 
passport to heaven ! Is he a man of letters, and 
knowledge in the holy scriptures ? Then he knows 
better, or may know by examination. And so it 
is with his learned prelates, and efficients.— But 
all this will not bring back your soul from per- 
dition, when once thither sent ; neither will your 
supposed passport to heaven, which you have in your 
hand at your decease, keep off the devil from your 
naked soul one moment! or from falling upon it as 
his own prey ! If you attempt to tell him about your 
passport, he will not believe a word of it. 

O delusion, delusion, dreadful delusion ! 

Perhaps you wili say, my friend, you are too harsh. 
But is not your wound incurable without the most 
powerful means ? Long, very long, have you lain i& 
our view, under this dreadful, deathly darkness. — ■ 
We would commiserate and pity you, from our souls ; 
and lend you all the assistance in our power, to shake 
off these galling chains of sin, and mysterious wick- 
edness, that you might be set at liberty from Satan's 
thraldom. You have been under great disadvanta- 
ges to obtain the knowledge of the truth — from that 
monkish superstition, and seclusion of the holy 
scriptures from your view ; by which means errors 
have been fostered among you, and kept you in dark- 
ness. But you are all immortals as well as we, and 
bound to the same eternity : but in some respects 
we must hail you as our Christian brethren, and for 
whose welfare we ought to be very solicitous, by 
prayer and supplication, together with every other 
mean in our power; we ought to endeavour to reclaim 
you, as wandering brethren, and bring you back to 
the kingdom and sheepfold of Christ. Professing 
sentiments of perfect friendship and amity, let us 
proceed calmly, to discourse upon this important 
subject. Then I will say, O my Christian friends* 
Do you believe in the infallibility and supremacy of 
your Pope ? and that he has power to pronounce abso= 
solutions on the greatest of sinners, and se-nd them ih-ta 



250 

the invisible world perfectly pure ? and to sell in- 
dulgences to others, to murder as many more as they 
see fit, and send them into the world of spirits with- 
out absolution or forgiveness I 

Dreadful thought ! 

If the Popes have this power, it must be delega- 
ted ; and if delegated, it must be by the immediate 
power of God, either by miraculous conferring, or 
the declaration of holy writ. But as there is no pre- 
tence to the former, then it must be the latter ; if it 
be the latter, then you can show us the place where. 
But we presume you cannot ; for we conceive there 
is none. And the only place that looks that way, is, 
what Christ said to Peter : — 

And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter j and 
ufion this rock I will build my churchy and the gates 
$f hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give 
unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven : and 
whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in 
heaven ; and whatsoever th%u shalt loose on earth 
shall ie loosed in heaven. Now I am no commenta- 
tor upon sacred scripture, yet, as this matter seems 
to be of infinite importance, you will allow me to 
canvass this subject, in the best manner I can, ac- 
cording to my feeble powers. In the first place then, 
there is an interrogation ; Jesus asked his disciples, 
Whom do men say that I the Son of man am ? And 
they said, some say that thou art John the Bahtist, 
$omc Ellas, and others Jeremias, or one of the firofxh** 
ets. He saith unto them, but whom say ye that I am ? 
And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the 
Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus ans- 
wered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon 
Bar-jona ; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it 
unto thee, but my Father wliich is in heaven. 

Then it appears, that the knowledge of Peter con- 
cerning our Saviour's being Christ, the Son of the 
living God, was by the immediate revelation of the 
Father, or, according to other scripture phrases, the 
drawing of the Father. This then was saving faith, 
or grace, in Peter. And it was that, which so read- 



251 

ily prompted him to pronounce of Jesus of Nazarctli, 
that he was the Christy the Son of the living God. 
This likewise implies, on the part of Christy that he 
had great confidence in Peter. And we find «n oth- 
er occasions, that Peter was a warm and zealous pro- 
moter of his Lord's cause and service ; bold and in- 
defatigable in his Master's work ; and had probably- 
taken a more active part, than any other of the dis- 
ciples at that time. This might be an additional 
reason of Christ's confidence in him. 

Now then, suppose that when Christ first made the 
declaration, Thou art Peter, the period had closed, 
then the sentence would have remained independent 
of what followed ; the sentence would have been the 
same in effect, as what Nathan said to David, Thou 
art the man, or any other independent sentence. But 
■when it is subjoined in what follows, according to 
the present punctuation of the bible, that is to say, 
on this rock will I luild my church, &c. the meaning 
seems to be rendered somewhat doubtful or ambigu- 
ous ;— on one part it seems to be rather dark and in- 
tricate ; and the most obvious construction, accord- 
ing to the present style and writing of the scriptures, 
leaves it too obscure to the understanding, and rath- 
er too far fetched. But I see no reason, not with* 
standing, why we may not consider the first person 
ChHst, as speaking of himself, and being the antece- 
dent to what follows; and this will remove ail diffi- 
culty. But on the other hand, we have to contend 
with the whole current of the word of God. But we 
must attend to our subject closely, and will say, that 
when Christ made the declaration, Thou art Peter y 
and upon this rock I will build my church, might it 
not refer to the faith which Peter had previously ex- 
ercised on Christ ; and this leads us back by reflec- 
tion, to consider Christ as the rock himself. But ad- 
mit your proposition, that Peter was the rocjc, yet 
the declaration was made to him definitely, and to 
no other person at the time, and not a word said 
about any of his successors. Then where would all 
your Popes come from ? 



252 

But suppose this power was delegated to Petei > 
for important reasons, in that miraculous age of the 
church ; there is no evidence from scripture, that 
shows that these powers were continued, and there- 
fore the evidence of this power if contended for 
must come from some other quarter. But we find 
that all such powers are limited, and not absolute. 
And must and will conform to the particular methods 
and economies of grace under which they are acted ; 
and are always attended with the principles of com- 
passion. Again, it appears that directly after this, 
Peter was not a subject of the entire confidence of 
his Lord, for he said unto him, Get thee behind me^ 
Satan ; thou art an offence unto me : for thou savour- 
est not the things that be of God, but those that be tf 
men. And therefore he could not be a root, or rock 
of perpetual infallibility. So that your whole fabri- 
cation must fall to the ground. And your worship- 
ing of saints and angels is equally impious and ab- 
surd : and should those holy and illustrious creatures, 
whom you address as mediators, have opportunity, 
and find a disposition to speak to you ; doubtless 
they would frown indignant on you, and address you 
much in the same language as the angel did the A- 
postle John. — See thou do it not. Worship God. 

Now it may be alarming to you, that your whole 
system of Popery must crumble to the dust : but if 
it must fall, the sooner the better; for, has it not 
already slain its thousands ! 

Let us consider the matter once more ; for a mo- 
ment, and the awful absurdity and dreadful danger 
of believing that a poor, weak, impious, blasphe- 
mous man, should be entrusted with some of the 
highest prerogatives of Deity ! To forgive or retain 
sins according to his caprice or avarice ; while these 
same sins has cost the blood of Immanuel to attone. 
O shocking ! beyond all description so. — For we 
are expressly told in the sacred oracles, that none 
can forgive sins but God only. Then how dare you, 
O Man of Sin, infringe on the Divine Prerogative ! 
What wilt thou do with the blood that may be foun4 



253 

in thy skirts ! Flee then, his embraces, O ye delud- 
ed followers ; shun him as you would the ten plagues 
of Egypt! 

To my fellow sinners of every description — Let 
us take a retrospective view of those yawning gulfs, 
and dreadful precipices, — those quicksands and 
shoals, that attend us all the way, through the whole 
voyage of life, in sailing over the surges of time. 
Now is our seed time for eternity ? the harvest of 
souls from our world is at hand. Methinks the 
silver trumpet of the Jubilee, to our sin-burdened 
world, begins already to sound a release to the bond- 
men of sin, who have been so long under Satan's 
thraldom. 

Awake then, thou that sleefiest, arise from the dead, 
and Christ shall give thee life. Renounce error, 
renounce prejudice, bigotry and superstition — Open 
your eyes to the light of sacred scripture, and of rea- 
son — Come ye ufi to the hel/i of the Lord against the 
viighty. Ponder well your goings. Prostrate your- 
selves at the footstool of sovereign grace. Pass by 
all mediators but one. Pray no longer to saints and 
angels. They will not, they cannot be your inter- 
cessors. Cry mightily to the God of heaven, that he 
would have mercy on your souls ; and guide you in- 
to all truth : and lead you in the way of everlasting 
life. 

Do you say you cannot strive and cry and pray ? No 
more can you breathe without divine assistance. 
You can strive for any thing you view of prime im- 
portance. And you can cry for a piece of bread, 
ratker than starve. And you can pray to become a 
colonel, a general, a duke, or a lord. And will you 
starve to death amongst the husks and vanities of 
this world ; and not arise, and go to your father's 
house, where there is dread enough and to spare ? 
Will you perish with hunger, rather than ask for a 
little spiritual bread. Is it a greater matter with you 
.to be a duke, or a lord, on the earth, than to be a 
King and a Priest in the heaven? forever I O mar- 
vellous follv ! 

?3 



254 

Do not tell about being rational creatures any lon- 
ger, I beg of you ! Methinks I hear some of you say, 
I have no heart for these thing3. You have hifc it ! 
You need not answer again. What ! in an apoplec- 
tic fit of death, and no heart to stir hand or foot ! 
Then you must die ! Sinking down to remediless 
■woe ; and no heart to reach out a hand for help I 
Then you must sink. A morbid death having seiz- 
ed the extreme part or limb of your body, and no 
heart to have it amputated ! Then you must mortify, 
— The fire of lust and of hell having seized on your 
whole frame ; but no heart to have it quenched by the 
-water of grace ! Then you must burn. Total de- 
pravity ! Dead in tresfia.ssc* and sins. 

What must be done ? Something must. We can- 
not bear to see you lie dead forever ; we must en- 
deavour to move you; and to restore some principle 
of life within you : and you must endeavour to move 
yourselves too, and encourage the pulse of life, if 
you feel it working within you, though ever so faint. 
If you feel any help from abroad, you must give the 
greatest encouragement by making the moat power- 
ful exertions yourself; if you do not, and the season 
of life passes over with you, you are effectually dead, 
and that in the worst sense ; as that of Judas and 
Belzebub. 

But still, you would spurn the idea, should we tell 
you in earnest, that you are not rational beings. You 
would answer with a contemptuous frown, if you 
thought us not beneath your notice, and would pro- 
ceed, perhaps, to give us some fine specimens of 
your intellect; saying, see here, you simple crea- 
ture ; what think you now ? Well, as just such high- 
toned rationalists, we will endeavour to converse 
with you a little, and calmly ask you, What you 
think of God ; of Christ ; of the divine law ; of hea- 
ven ; and of hell ; and of the world of spirits ; and of 
moral and religious obligations ; and of eternity, with 
all its glorious and awful attendants ; of the state of 
probation, and the solemnities of the last judgment ? 
Well, my friends* you have generally lived long 



255 

enough in the world, to know that great objects arc 
attained by great exertions ; and somewhat propor- 
tionate to the value of the object, is the constancy™ 
the diligence — -the assiduity—and the perseverance 
with which we pursue it. Now when we hear hell, 
with all its internal horrors, roaring behind us, 
and believe that the devils are flying to attack us^ 
entangle us, and drag us away ; and heaven with 
all its immortal and never failing bliss, opening 
ready to receive us — Angels and glorified minister- 
ing spirits, flying to welcome us — Time, with hh 
sharp sickle, cutting us down, and ridding the earth 
of us — Is it possible that we should want a motive ? 

Now you say, that you are rational beings ; come 
then sit down and make out your scale. Place these 
momentous fconcerns On one hand ; and the world 
and its vanities on the other. Let the world be your 
standard, as to your diligence — assiduity — and atten- 
tion ; and give these great and momentous concerns 
their due weight, and proportionate powerful exer- 
tions, just according to their true worth ; agreeably 
to a reasonable scale. Then I believe, for one, that 
you will arrive at heaven. Not on point of merit, by 
asy means, but merely by divine grace : and because 
God has so wonderfully connected the means with 
the end. 

There is another thing, and that is, we would all 
wish to work for a good master, and good wages. 
Now I would ask those who work all their lives long 
for the the devil and the world ; what they think of 
their masters, and their wages ? Whereas, those who 
work for our Master Christ, work for the best of 
masters and receive the best of wages. And they 
generally receive earnest enough to encourage them 
in their work. And besides, I would ask them how 
long they think it would be after they sit down at 
our Lord's entertainment on high, before they will 
feel themselves perfectly compensated for all the 
trouble and care, they ever had, or could have been 
at ? O then 1 What is an eternity of feasting ! 

Come my friends, this is delicious fare i let us all 



256 

go in to the entertainment, since we are so sweetly 
invited; for the Spirit says come, and the Bride says 
e ome ; and the ambassadors of Christ are scattered 
every where, wooing, and beseeching : do not let vis 
oxcuse ourselves, by telling about our farms, our 
merchandize, our buying oxen, and marrying wives, 
Sec. until the door is shut, and we loose our souls. 
O deplorable I It is a glorious season to attend to 
these thing's. The Spirit of God is wonderfully 
poured out, and brings along with it vast helps ; and 
besides, the Millennium seems to be dawning. But, 
perhaps, you will tell me that the great battle of Ar- 
mageddon, or Gog and Magog, has not been fought 
yet. That the buriers that were appointed to that 
service, that were to be seven months in burying the 
dead, have not performed that service as yet. O alas I 
how it chills my blood to hear it ! Perhaps the state 
of the world, after this ingathering of souls is over, 
may be swiftly verging to that awful crisis. 

O what a glorious opportunity we now have to get 
wisdom, and with all our gettings to get understand- 
ing. Let us seek her as silver, and search for her as 
for hid treasures, that we may understand the fear of 
the Lord, and find the knowledge of our God. Let 
us be up and doing while the day of life lasts, before 
the night of death ovei takes us, wherein no man can 
work. Let us have our loins girt about with truth, 
and our lampstrimmed and burning, and we ourselves 
like unto them that wait for the coming of their 
Lord. 

It stands us in hand to be habited with the whole 
christian armour, for we know but little of the extent 
of tfee enemy's power, until we come to close quar- 
ters with him ; and then we shall find, that we need 
an Almighty helper: and if ever we would arrive at 
the promised land, we must lean on his Almighty 
arm. And if we have nothing more than human aid 
.to support us, we shall be terribly foiled in the 
dark 'oalley. For it is here, that the prince of hcil 
keeps his strong stations. Ply then, the fell monster! 
come over on tha Lord's side, and eat of the heaven- 



257 

ly manna, — partake of wisdom's bread, and drink o£ 
the wine which she has mingled. God, angels and 
men, are willing, and all stand ready to bid you a 
hearty welcome. Why then do ye loiter ? Now then 
get religion, — get that of the right kind too, — dig 
deep, and search earnestly, until you have found the 
pearl of great price. Do not be cheated, — there are 
many counterfeits. Get the white stone, and new 
name, which no man knoweth saving he that receiv- 
eth it. 

Put off your filthy garments, and get those that 
are clean and white. Dig so long, and so deep, that 
you know you are founded on the rock of ages. Do 
not settle on a smaller rock ; and be careful not to 
build on the sand; for a false religion is like false 
coin ; the more a man has of it, the worse it is for 
him : for fancying himself already rich he looses all 
opportunities of becoming really so. And, moreo- 
ver, becomes obnoxious to civil law, and condign 
punishment, for having this false coin about him» 
Just so with the man that has false religion ; with 
this difference, however, that the one is finite, and 
temporal ; and the other infinite and eternal. 

True grace is like true gold, of a valuable and re» 
fined nature ; the more gold a man has, the more he 
craves ; just so with true grace ; the more the chris- 
tian has, the more he wants ; he is constantly crav- 
ing greater supplies, and never is satisfied with pre- 
sent attainments ; he counts not himself to have afi*> 
firehended,but this one thing he does ; forgetting those 
things which are behind and reaching forth unto those 
things which are before, he presses towards the mark^ 
for the firize of the high calling of God in Christ Je- 
sus.— He adds to his faith, virtue, and every chris- 
tian grace, and is not ashamed of the gosficl of Christ 
—nor afraid to confess Christ before men. He is 
ready to communicate in all good things, both spirit- 
ual and temporal, as God has given him ability ; — he 
pants after living waters, as the hart pants after the 
water brooks : he finds a sweetness in divine things. 



258 

which can oe in nothing: else found. He lives oft. 
this food on earth, and will so in heaven forever.— 
But the false religion which the person is in pos- 
session of, disposes him to desire just so much of 
it, and no more, as he thinks will ensure him a pass-* 
port to heaven when he dies ; and that is all he cures 
about it. So here you see, in plain simple language^ 
we have stated the difference. 

You know that men, here on earth, when they 
come into possession of gold, will either hoard it up. 
or put it out at interest ; the latter they generally 
prefer: where the principalis safe. Now what coin 
gives such interest as grace ? Interest upon inter- 
est ; or compound interest to all eternity ! — Come, 
O miser ! Methinks here is something that will pleas© 
your ear ! — And there is another thing too, attending 
i .. that must be agreeable to you, as one would think ; 
and that is, you can have it without money and with- 
out price. Now you would call yourself a foci, 
to loose such an opportunity, in temporal concerns : 
then apply this to your spiritual concerns ! Provide 
yourselves dag's which wax- not old, a treasure hi the 
heavens that fadeih not, where no thief ajijiroacheth^ 
nor moth corrufiteth. Now, you are afraid of moth, 
and rust and thieves. Well, secure yourselves against 
them now in time, or your bags of gold will only lie 
ttpon you as a dead weight, and sink you so much 
the lower in perdition! Another difficulty attends 
your keeping them ; and that is, the rust and canker 
of them will eat your flesh, as it were fl re, here be- 
Jow. Away v/ith them, then— except what you want 
for your own necessities : and if you wish to turn 
them to your advantage hereafter, then lend them 
'o the Lerd : by feeding the hungry, clothing- the na- 
Vedi visiting the sick and imprisoned ; the widow and 
the fatherless, and relieving the distressed of every 
descri/ition; — in the mean time, keeping yourself 
u -shotted from the world. You might also lend a 
fcand, towards sending the gospel through your own, 
and all foreign Lands ; and help open the door of 
the Millennium 



259 

Come, come. All hands to quarters ! God worksi 
and his servants must work. Let every one take his 
place, and stand in his lot ; for we must be fellow* 
workers with Christ. He seems to have arisen to 
shake terribly the earth. The Windj The Earth* 
quake* and the Fire, seem to have, in a measure, 
passed by ; and the still small voice becomes quite 
perceivable. 

O glorious! What a golden harvest for souls !— 
Yes, the Millennium rolls on. But stop ! A dark 
and dismal scene may be at hand. Bloody combus- 
tibles may be now fast gathering. Gog and Magog 
may soon be preparing for some dreadful explosion ! 
Some say, the return of the Jews to their own land, 
will begin it. Some say one thing, and others an- 
other. But we say, that the sins of a guilty world, 
and the infidelity into which they are sunk and are 
sinking, is sufficient to open the dreadful catastro- 
phe ! But to return. It is highly probable, that, as 
the Jews are about to return to their own land, and 
take possession of Palestine, they having amassed 
vast wealth* from all quarters of the earth ; they now 
become an object of plunder. And the keen avari^ 
cious eye of the nations, will quickly discern them 
as such. And it probably being a time, when mo- 
rality, honour, justice, equality, and an adherence to 
the law of nations, is very much down in the world 5 
— and it may be too, from old prejudices ; from their 
having lived so long time with them, and observing 
their rivalships in trade, &c. And considering, as 
the case may be, that they are in possession of prop- 
erty they ought not to have ; and seeing them settled 
down in quiet and security, in their unwalled towns 
and villages in Judea ; it is now that Gog and Ma- 
gog will come forth, with their vast armies, and com- 
mence the attack. 

But see : The Lord of Hosts comes down to fight 
for Mount Zion ! And for this purpose, brings into 
operation the whole artillery of heaven ! And a 
dreadful slaughter ensues \ 



266 

Go to work, ye appointed buriers of the dead ; for 
you have work, enough for seven months ! 

O dismal ! 

Since we are on a gloomy subject, let us go through 
the scene. Behold then, the lights of the Millenni- 
um g;oing out, one after another, and fading away, 
just as the stars cease to shine when the sun ap- 
proaches our hemisphere ! The day of gospel light 
declining, and setting, never more to rise ! 

Men's sins so flagrant, they seem to be going- be- 
forehand to judgment. Vile, even to a proverb ! Full 
of murder, malice, and revenge ! Courts of justice 
fading like the leaf! Colleges and seminaries of 
learning extinct ! The common and restraining in- 
fluences of the spirit scarce discernable— its special 
agency rarely seen. The gospel treated with con- 
tempt. The heralds of the cross very few, and much 
despised. A dreadful persecution, probably begins. 
The Gog and Magog of the whole earth coming up 
against the saints of the Most High, and encamping 
against the beloved city ; until fire comes down from 
God, out of heaven, and consumes them ail I This 
opens the terrific scenes of the last judgment 1 Who 
can endure this ! O the groanings of the wicked ! 
How they lament the loss of time ! Hell in minia- 
ture ! 

But let us turn from these dismal and soul-coa- 
feunding scenes, and retrace out steps back to the 
Millennium. This is a World of Light S Scientific 
Light ! Moral Light ! Gospel- Light ! Spiritual 
Light 1 Divine Light! Heavenly Light ! 

The light of the moon shall be as the light of the 
sun, and the light of the sun sevenfold. Groping in 
darkness, however, and for want of this Illustrious 
Light, I acknowledge myself unable to express any 
adequate ideas about it. But, as there are many opin« 
it>ns concerning the subject, some saying one thing, 
and some another ; I do not see why I may not, like 
Elihu of o!d> give my opinion also* If you will allow 
me the privilege, I will begin. 



261 

First then, I will say — That the earth will produce 
her fruits, in great abundance, for the sustenance of 
man ; which will be partly owing to the uncommon 
blessings of Divine Providence, and partly to the 
high state of agriculture in cultivating the earth. 
This will bring on a great proportion of wealth and 
population. Wars having previously ceased, all the 
implements of war are turned into the utensils of 
husbandry. This will bring on a great profusion of 
these articles ; and even gunpowder, that master- 
piece of destruction, it is probable, will be used al- 
most exclusively, in digging wells, cellars, and burst- 
ing rocks and ledges to pieces, which will furnish 
the most permanent materials for buildings, walls. 
Sec. which will wonderfully stand the shock of time. 
Vast roads and canals will probably be opened. In- 
land navigations, as unexpectedly succeed. All this 
will afford employment for a vast number of hands, 
in manual labour and ex?rcise. This will have a 
natural tendency to bring on a general state of health «, 
aiid probably long life. A great number of this vast 
multitude will be employed in the sciences. Men's 
minds will be clear and discerning. Colleges and 
seminaries of learning will be erected, brilliant and 
numerous. Sciences Will be brought more to a point, 
than ever before. Doubtless a great part of these 
educated scholars will be divines, with clear heads 
and sound hearts. Morality will be every where in 
great perfection ; except in a few waste places, and 
places given to salt. 

The world will be supplied with wonderful teach=> 
ers in divinity, and these teachings will be accompa- 
nied with wonderful effusions of the Holy Ghost. 
Perhaps common. Perhaps constant. The minds 
of these teachers being so illuminated, and clear, by 
the agency of the Holy Spirit; they will see into 
scripture, and solve doctrinal points of d«ubtand un- 
certainty, with great clearness and perspicuity. They 
will be Pauls, for depth of reason, argument and 
judgment; and Apolloses, for clearness, perspicuity 
and eloquence. They will exhibit such heavenly ov» 



262 

atory, from the pulpit, and other places of worship 5 
as will strangely diffuse through the whole audience , 
in a kind of sacred sympathy ; and the whole world 
will grow more and more holy. I scruple whether, 
in that momentous day, the people's ears will be so 
often accosted with the dark and mysterious parts of 
scripture, by some of the preachers, as they are at 
the present day ! 

Ah ! say they, we understand you : You mean the 
the doctrines of Election and Reprobation. I do, my 
Friends. I do, Reverend Pastors. And if you can 
give me any light on the subject, I wish you would. 
For I often hear it promulgated from the desk, and 
never yet could understand it. If any of us are des- 
tined to eternal woe, by the irreversible decree of 
Jehovah ; and secretly, yet surely drawn down to 
perdition by an irresistible hand, yet, by ever so long 
a chain, constituted of e$-er so many links, which 
you may call motives, if you please; yet, all these 
motives shall be fitted out, and exactly squared to 
their several places, by an Almighty hand, and duly 
settled and firmly rivetted, in this chain, and oblig- 
ed to perform its part in the great work of our des- 
truction : I ask, if we are not as surely and certainly 
impelled to this ruin, as if we were driven thither by 
thunderbolts ? If so, where is our moral agency ? 

But perhaps you will say, Yes, you are moral 
agents. Because, if you are obliged to go to hell, 
you do not know it ; and in this state you have mo- 
tives set before you, and you do not know but you 
may act just as you please ; so let you choose or re- 
fuse, you are still moral agents. 

This, my dear Sirs, this gives me but a small idea 
of moral agency. Methinks I hear you say, There 
is another reason for you ; for you, and every other 
person, know in your own souls and consciences, that 
you are moral agents, and that you are perfectly free 
in whatever you do, and are consequently accounta- 
bles. Ah ! indeed, this reason is strong enough. 
We need no more. But do these same souls and 
consciences testify, that all these dark and mysteri* 



263 

©us places of scripture, are rightly construed by you ; 
and are, just in the shape in which you hand them 
out, Eternal Truth ? I cannot think it. I never 
yet could believe, that our dear Lord was not in ear- 
nest, when he stood over Jerusalem and wept, and 
so pathetically exclaimed, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 
thou that killest the firofihets, and stonest them that 
are sent unto thee*, how often would I hove gath~ 
ered thy children together, even as an hen gathtreth 
her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! 
No, I never will believe this all mock pageantry. I 
never will believe, but what these poor rejected Jews, 
might have been gathered, and saved, if they had at- 
tended to it before their day was gone. But accord* 
ing to your hypothesis — and if they were destined to 
eternal woe, by the irrevocable decree of God, then 
I ask, if there ever was a time, when they could have 
been gathered? And then, what do you make of 
what Christ said, when he wept over them ? O dread- 
ful ! What are we all about ? Well, as ignorant as 
we are, on our part, we will pursue the argument. 
We will suppose the Almighty laying his plans of 
creation, classing out his intellectual worlds into E- 
iect and Refirobate, A part of these reprobates be- 
long to the human species, all of which must die 
eternally. A part of these reprobates are placed 
among the Elect, in gospel lands. God sends the 
angels of his word, the ministers of his grace, to in- 
vite the Elect into his grace and glory. These invi- 
tations are made to ail alike ; God having from all 
eternity laid his plan, and predetermined that these 
reprobates should all be lost, and that nothing should 
avail to their salvation ; yet, the harbingers of peace 
are directed to tell them that every sermon they hear 
— every sabbath and sanctuary opportunity misim- 
proved— and ai! mi-spent time— together with the 
common and special agency of the Holy Ghost, 
should be the means of dreadfully and eternally ag- 
gravating their condemnation ! and the word of God 
which these are favoured with, abundantly gives the 
same testimony. 



264 

Poor reprobates ! Forlorn creatures indeed I No 
help for you i 

Now, my dear Sirs, are your eyes strong enough 
to see perfect and eternal equity in all this ? I do not 
say but this is the case, but with great diffidence and 
humility, I must say I cannot see it. But now to the 
holy scriptures. 

It does appear that there are many places in the 
sacred writings, where the word Election does not 
mean strict, absolute, and eternal destination ; but 
God seems to be speaking after the manner of men. 
In the first place, we will take the words of Christ, 
Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a de- 
vil ? Here then was a choosing or electing of Judas, 
who afterward by transgression fell, that he might 
go to his own place. Again, While I was with them 
in the world, I kept them in thy name, those that thou 
gavest vie I have kept, and none of them is' lost, but 
the son of perdition. Here then was a giving, in 
some sense, of Judas, or the son of perdition, to 
Christ in the plan of redemption. 

Again, our Saviour says, Ye have not chGsen me, 
but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye 
go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should 
remain. Here it seems that there was a choosing 
and ordaining of Christ, for their bringing forth fruit. 
And the apostle, Examine yourselves whether ye be 
in the faith ; prove your own selves: know ye not 
your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, ex- 
cept ye be reprobates ? 

Now Christ was either within these Corinthians, 
or he was not ; for it was spoken in the present tense 
or time ; and if he was not within them, they were 
reprobates. If they were reprobates, then they were 
reprobates for a limited time, or else they were eter- 
nal reprobates. If they were eternal reprobates, not 
one soul of them that were then living, was ever 
after that converted, and brought home to Christ ; 
and consequently were all lost: which is hardly sup- 
posable. Again the apostle. And as many as wer? 
ordained to. eternal life* believed, Now the wove! be- 



265 

Sevedjheiug a participle of the present or past tense, 
would seem to imply, that all that were then present, 
young and old, that heard Paul preach, or those who 
were ordained to eternal iife, or ever would be saved, 
were then instantly brought into the kingdom and 
sheepfold of Christ; and made heirs of immortal 
glory. It is not probable. — Therefore we think it 
must have a limited meaning. Again, the old testa- 
ment abounds very much in promises and threaten- 
ing*}, that depend on contingencies, though the con- 
tingencies are not mentioned. — Jonah, for instance, 
was commanded by God himself, to preach to the 
Ninevites, and toil them, that within forty days Ni- 
neveh should be overthrown Which depended, 
however, upon the contingency of their repenting, 
They accordingly repented, and were saved. — Ahab 
was sharply rebuked by the prophet concerning his 
conduct with Ben-hadael, king of Syria, and toid, 
thus saith the Lord, — Because thou hast let go out of 
thy hand a man whom I appointed to destruction^ 
therefore thy life shall go for his life^ and thy people 
for his people. 

Here then the term is as strong, for aught that I 
can see, as any that is usually made use ol in the co- 
venant of grace. And yet it would seem, speaking 
after the manner of men, as though Ben-hadad had 
escaped from Ahab unnoticed by the Almighty; 
when he had really intended to have destroyed him. 
By all this, it appears that it was to show the meth- 
ods by which the Almighty accommodates his lan- 
guage to mortals; consequently, in certain cases, 
such terms cannot be considered definite and eternal, 
— But, perhaps you will say, — This man is aiming to 
strike a death blow to the whole system of religion ; 
he is levelling his shafts at the grand palladium of 
the gospel, and the great scheme of election, upon 
which the whole is built ! No, my dear sirs, I am far 
from this. — I as firmly believe in the doctrine as you 
do, and it is as precious to me. — I believe it a prime 
matter of revelation ; but I do not believe every pre- 
conceived notion of it, either in the clergy or laity , 
24 



266 

though sanctioned by ever so great a number of 
years,-^-and handed down by ever so sacred ckarac- 
ters of men,: — by ever so sacred forms, — or, by ever 
so much traditional sanctity. These things I do not 
believe to be revelation ;-— but only the opinion of 
fallible men like ourselves. 

And now should you ask me, what my sentiments 
on election are, I will read them in the words of the 
great apostle to the Gentiles. 

For whom he did foreknow he also did predestinate 
to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he 
might be the first-bom among many brethren. 
Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also 
called, i?c. So you see, the great apostle has placed 
the foreknowledge of God in front of all the attributes 
of election ; and has thrown the other attributes of it 
In their several classes, in the rear, or behind the 
foreknowledge. 

I am no expositor of scripture, neither do I expect 
to be ; but as I Tead these passages of scripture, 
they strike my mind in this order. First then, the 
foreknowledge of God is truly infinite, and his pre- 
cience strictly eternal: and this, together -with his 
other ever adorable perfections and attributes, quali- 
fy him to be Governor and Judge of the universe. 

He must be able to declare the end from the be- 
ginning; and as perfectly foreknow the flying of a 
mote, as that of Gabriel; and where every particle 
of sand is, or may be placed ; and every thought in 
our hearts, and every hair on our heads, is equally 
foreknown ! He foreknew just what reception we 
should give his word, the gospel of his dear Son; 
and what improvement we should make of our natu- 
ral powers, and whether we should so effectually 
use the means of grace in the way which he has ap- 
pointed, till we come to that state in which he is 
wont to meet his creatures, and in which he would 
certainly meet us with his blessing. All this he 
might do, as the great foreseer of events, and it has 
not the least effect on moral agency. This is the 



267 

corner stone, — the pillar, upon which I build my be- 
lief of the doctrine of election. 

We will pursue the apostle*s words again, and see 
what light they afford us in their arrangement ; More* 
over, whom he did fore know > them he did predesti- 
nate. And to what did he predestinate them ? Why! 
to be conformed to the image of his So?i, that he 
might be the first-born among many brethren, i. e. 
they were predestinated to become holy like 
Christ: — this seems to be the predestination here 
spoken of, that they should be conformed to the 
image of his Son. Christ should be the elder brother, 
and the disciples the younger brethren of the frater- 
nity; — or, in other words, that they should become 
a royal priesthood— a holy nation. Why may not 
this be the force of their predestination ? it being- 
agreeable to the whole word of God. 

Next, they were to be called. Now What this call- 
ing was to be in particular, we know not; or how- 
much louder the call was to them who would accept 
than to others that would not, we cannot tell. If call- 
ed, then justified and glorified. Now, if we place 
the foreknowledge of God in the front of the attri- 
butes of election, where it ought to be, and where 
the apostle has placed it; and throw in the other 
attributes behind it in their successive order, then, 
this opens at once a world of moral agency ; and is 
perfectly consistent with the whole word of God, 
and with the dictates of our own consciences, that 
we are moral agents. But in any other view of the 
subject, according to my weak capacity, we are eter- 
nal machines. 

We conclude therefore, that more light must 
break out in the world than has ever yet appeared, 
to give mankind a just and perfect idea of the equity 
of Divine Government by any other plan than what 
we have stated. — How we, worms of the dust, can 
perfectly understand the methods of Divine procee- 
dure in the infinite foreknowledge of God to cer- 
tainty, should not have the least possible effect on 
us* and yet, as rational beings, we know this to be 



268 

the truth. The subject is too awfully sublime, for 5 
us, poor fallen creatures, to understand. The ground 
is too sacred for poor polluted worms to walk upon. 
Let us then be off from it at once, and let us stand 
like the poor trembling Israelites around the foot of 
Mount Sinai ; let us fear to gaze, or to break through 
the sacred enclosure, lest we die I 

Let us coasider this subject as one of the infinites 
and incomprehensibles of the Divine character, which 
we do not, or never can understand. Then do not let 
us despise, and wonder and perish ; and spend our 
probation in disputing whether God has from eter- 
nity designed mercy for us, or not; and in this way? 
lose our souls ! 

Then, let us return to that field of terrestrial bliss 
from which we lately came, — The high Jubilee of 
the Church ! — The thousand years ; when Satan is 
bound and goes out to deceive the nations no more 
till the thousand years are expired. Glorious sea- 
son ! It must be so, for the beasts of the wilderness 
and field shall harmonize ! The serpent and cocka- 
trice shall lose their venom i The strong, robust, 
majestic and terrific lion, shall eat straw like an ox. 
The cow and the bear shall feed, and their young 
ones shall lie down together. — Happy times 1 

We left the inhabitants of this age wonderfully 
progressing in holiness : now it may be said that, 
thy fie o file shall be all righteous; they shall inherit 
the land for ever y the branch of my plantings the work 
of my hands, that I may be glorifitd. A little one 
shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong na- 
tion ; I the Lord will hasten it in his time. For, be- 
hold, I create new heavens, and a ?iew earth : and 
the former shall not be remembered, nor come into 
mind. But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that 
which I create : for behold I create Jerusalem a re~ 
joking, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in 
Jerusalem, and joy in my people : and the voice of 
weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice 
■ of crying. There shall be no more thence an infant 
of days, nor <za eld man thai hath not filled his days 



269^ 

for the child shall die an hundred years old ; bia the 
sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed, 
And they shall build houses and inhabit them ; and 
they shall filant vineyards and eat the fruit of them. 
They shall not build and another inhabit ; they shall 
not plant and another eat : for as the days of a tree 
so are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long 
enjoy the work of their hands. For they shall not la- 
bour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble : for they 
are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, arid their off- 
spring with them. And it shall come to pass, that 
before they call, I will answer, and while they are yet 
speaking I will hear. The sun shall be no more thy 
light by day ; neither for brightness shall the moon 
give light unto thee : but the Lord shall be unto thee 
an everlasting light, and thy God, thy glory. Thy 
sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon 
withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be thine everlas- 
ting light, and the days of thy mournifig shall be en- 
ded. 

This is the glorious day foretold by the prophets. 
This is the glorious day anticipated by the saints. 
And doubtless the long expected day of angels ! And 
a day much sought out by the King of Heaven ! 
This is the day in which he will astonish the spec- 
tators of other worlds, should they come to view ! 
The celestial herald will- fly with joyful eclat! The 
harbingers of peace below, will redouble their dili- 
gence — and those above and below, attended by Al- 
mighty power, shall bring up to. view a world of 
wonders I It is now that righteousness shall run down 
their streets like a river, and judgment like an over- 
flowing stream. It is now, that the mountain of the 
Lord's house shall be established in the top of the 
mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills ; and 
all nations shall flow unto it. 

Now, if the mountain of the Lord's house shall be 
thus exalted ; for what purpose is it ; but that men 
should go up to it to worship the Lord of hosts. If 
they thus go up into the holy mount, what hinders 
imt that they should meet God there. And the holy 
24 * * 



270 

angels and saints observing this correspondence, may 
come clown in their holy ministering capacities, to 
assist in the great work;, and take their several sta- 
tions around the children of God and become their 
daily ministering spirits. And one saint after anoth- 
er, having his mind wonderfully strengthened, shall 
be able, not only to relate their own particular ex- 
periences in religion ; but also, the wonderful ex- 
pressions and experiences of their fellow saints; and 
the language will be methodical, clear, heavenly and 
vastly sublime. O how will the souls of these holy 
men glow with divine love to the benevolent parent 
of mercies, for the bestowment of such amazing fa- 
vours I And how will their breasts kindle into a 
little heaven, while they rehearse these mighty deeds 1 
Nor is there any thing in holy writ, that forbids any 
thing of this : not a syllable, we boldly affirm. 

It is probable, likewise, that the dying saint shall 
feel as it were himself surrounded with holy invisi- 
ble beings, who are waiting for him to breath his 
last gasp, he being fully satisfied that he shall be 
wafted.immediately to glory, by these invisible intei- 
Agencies: Who would not wish to live and die in 
such a day as this i 

What say you, O my friends ? have we not set suf- 
licient motives before you, to call up, and invigorate 
ali the powers of your souls in the pursuit of the 
-one thing needful ? if not, sleep on, till death and 
judgment awaken you I 



FOUR POEMS, 

ON SOLEMN AND DIVINE SUBJECTS, 
POEM I. 

On the oreat mortality of the women and 
children in williamsburgh, in 1788. 

GOD's angel has drawn out his sword ? 
'to smite the town of Wiiliamsburgh ; 
To kill the female sex, and we, 
Among the rest, poor babes may see. 

Six mothers are departed hence I 
Their consorts left in great suspense, 
Which way to go, whither to run ; 
Nor can they their sore troubles shun. 

Your troubles sink you to the ground, 
And when you trace this globe arouiftl^ 
You find your wives have gone before, 
We hope they've entered heaven's door. 

If this is true, my friends, don't sigh, 
You shall be there soon as you die ; 
Bright angels shall your convoy be. 
And soon your happy wives you'll see* 

If you will live like holy men, 
Renounce the world, satan and sin ; 
Take up your cross* march on so bold, 
Nor fear to die, when'ere you're cali'd* 



272 

O what a dismal cry was beard, 
While pregnant women greatly fear'd ; 
Near every one that's brought to bed. 
By angel's stroke was smitten dead. 

*Twas now a scene of grief awoke, 
And every eye its language spoke, 
And cry'd great God, O pity us ! 
Let mercy now remove the curse. 

Five infants too, to death were brought, 
Scarce embryo's of maturer thought ; 
Just touch'd on life and glanc'd away ! 
We hope to everlasting day. 

For every one then born must die, 
No length of days, its soul might try ; 
Away from earth, must shortly fly, 
And enter on eternity ! 

O sad and solemn was the sound, 
And grief did every where abound ; 
The heavens black, the earth was hard ; 
High time that we our God regard ! 

A solemn fast was then proclaim'd ; 
And Israel's mighty God was nam'd ; 
We call'd aloud on Jacob's king ; 
That he immediate succours bring. 

He heard us and becalm'd our souls, 
The deadly tempest no more rolls ; 
But still as night and calm as noon, 
Health now springs up in sprightly bloom. 

call on G@d when in distress ! 
And he your weary soul shall bless ; 
Shall fill your minds and ease your smart. 
And write his image on your heart, 



273 

© !• my young friends, I pray beware 3 
And see that you slight not an heir 
Of mighty grace and glory here ; 
That eternally shall victory wear. 

What to make sports and games of those 
Whom the eternal Father chose, 
To seat them on his royal throne, 
And judge the world to pains unknown. 

The angels shall be judg'd at last, 
By those poor men that you have cast, 
Though on them you've been wont to tread i 
O fear that powor that strikes you dead. 

O for some signal of thy power 9 
O shorten the delaying hour ; 
O fly abroad, proclaim thy name, 
O ! wash the nations, Mighty Lamb, 



POEM II. 

A SOLILOqUY, OR RATHER CONFERENCE, EBT¥SI» 
THE DIVINE ATTRIBUTES OF MERCY AND JUSTICE; 
RELATIVE TO THE STATE OF FALLEN MAN. 

[In the following Poem, the author, somewhat in 
conformity to the usages of ancient poets and orators^ 
su/ifioses, where the sense seems strongly to require 
it, invisible beings or things to sfieak, from the ani~ 
mate, inanimate, or intellectual worlds. In this way, 
the souls of men may be more sensibly struck with the 
awful contrast, that may be in many cases raised, and 
brought to the view of the moral ivorid* In this 



274 

$e?ise, it seems to be strictly {awful, and much approve 
ed of by the best and greatest of men ; but when we 
approach the Divine Being, his attributes or word, 
what profound reverence ought to fill our souls, while 
we, with the greatest solemnity, approach the holy 
theme. The author, therefore, in this sufifiosed solil- 
oquy of the Divine Being, or his as it were consult- 
ing with himself by our supposing his divine attri- 
butes personated, relative to our ruined race, and ear- 
nestltylaying their claims — means nothing more,, than 
that this would probably be their language, should 
they appear a. id c&nsult in person ; and he will there- 
fore say they seem to do it. This kind of language 
he makes use of in this and one other pocm.~\ 

THE spirit of the gospel comes, 
To call dead sinners from their tombs ; 
Then hear and see and taste and feel, 
The grace that vanquishes all hell. 

When rebels feel the dread alarms, 
Not all the powers of hell at arms, 
Can such eternal might confound ; 
The sword of justice gives the wound. 

Then the black gulfs of woe arise, 
And devils roar and vengeance flies, 
Hell's flames flash in their ghastly face; 
And wrath Almighty rolls apace. 

Then up to heaven they turn their eye, 
Ami Justice dreadful seems to cry ; 
I'll have the sinner's blood, I swear ; 
That I his guilty soul may teai\ 

How just it is that he should die, 
In everlasting pain should lie ; 
And thus sink clown beneath this load, 
And lie and wallow in his blood. 



275 

The devil, you know, was soon cast down 
From heaven's high arch, and God's high throne ; 
Down, down he sinks, in vengeful ire, 
Down, down, to burn in quenchless fire. 

Just so poor sinning man must go, 
Down, down, down, down to endless woe 5 
I'll pour such vengeance on his head, 
As made the Mighty Chieftain bleed. 

I'll tear him now from limb to limb. 
And let him know how dear to sin ; 
And thus I will avenge tny cause, 
And thus I'll right God's injur'd laws. 

Now Mercy seems 10 cry, forbear, 
O save the sinner, hear his prayer ; 
I "11 show your honour is kept good, 
Without one drop of sinner's blood. 

Stop, stop ! stop, stop ! those dreadful claim* I 
Forbear, forbear, those awful names 
Of devils, fire, and endless woe, 
Whilst I a God of pity show. 

A council has been cail'd of old, 
And man is not to Satan sold ; 
The Triune God the plan has laid, 
And devils can't the same invade. 

Old Jewish rites, of anGient date, 
The blood and hysop, dismal state i 
Never could cleanse the guilty soul # 
Or make the broken precept whole* 

But there is one of royal race, 
The second David holds the place 
Of great Deliverer from sin ; 
Tis H$ can make our garments clean. 



276 

Speak on, speak on, pray Mercy, do, 
If thou an opening door canst show, 
So that poor wretched man may live ; 
The same I joyful will receive. 

I'll hear thee with attentive ear, 
If thou a passage now canst clear, 
Whereby the sinner may come to heaven \ 
In love of it with you I'm even. 

I was just a going- to talkof blood, 
That flow'd from an incarnate God ; 
Say, Justice— does'nt the smallest hint, 
Make you most perfectly content. 

Yes, now I see a plan arise, 

King Jesus brought from heavenly skies ; 

And hung a sacrifice for thee ; 

Come in poor man, the way is free. 

Thus those two attributes contend, 
But Mercy with her liberal hand, 
Is victor, and she cries aloud ; 
Her voice is great to all the proud, 

Come in and taste, the Lord is good ; 
Come in, receive the heavenly food ; . 
Come in and feel your heavenly birth ; 
Or stand and take eternal wrath. 

You that have souls to save or lose, 

Say you this day whom ye will choose.; 

At last, if Jesus give offence, 

Then yawning devils must drag you hence. 

Go fly, go fly to Jesus' blood ; 
Go f}y and wash your souls with God : 
Go purge, go purge your guilty mind, 
AncJ taste the joys which grace remvd« 



277 

Heaven's pearly gates will open then, 
And you shall be the blest of men ; 
Angels shall bear you lo the skies, 
Where every pardon'd sinner flies. 

Come holy cherubs, strike your strings-, 
While the redeemed captive sings. 
Sings Alleluia to the Lamb, 
Sings, and adores a Saviour's name. 

Amen, amen, amen, amen, 
A loud Amen fill every lay ! 
Amen, amen, amen, amen, 
A loud Amen to endless day I 



POEM III. 

ON. THE JOYS OF HEAVEN, CR THE HAPPINESS OF 
THAT GLORIOUS STATE. 

Ti\KE flight, my muse, and mount on high, 
Above the regions of the sky ; 
(jo walk the pearly streets above 3 
Where all is joy and all is love. 

Methinks I see a glittering throng 
Of angels, shouting glorious song, 
And hymning seraphs, bright as flame. 
Saying Alleluia to the Lamb. 

Thousands of spirits, cleans'd from sin. 
Their natures pure, their garments clean 5 
Adorning now the courts above, 
The trophies of redeeming love, 

25 



278 

Millions of sparkling beauties there? 
Spirits of just made bright and fair ^ 
Pray tell me now ye glittering throng* 
How great your glory and how long. 

Methinks I hear old Adam tell, 
Once I stood on the brink of hell ; 
But by a purchase infinite, 
I now dwell in the realms of light. 

So now I stand upon Mount Zion, 
Here's righteousness I may rely on ; 
The powers of hell I can defy, 
And sit and sing eternally. 

# 

Next answer's Abel, years have roll'd* 
Since I a breathless corpse lay cold ; 
*Twas on that bloody day, 'twas then* 
I flew up to the great I AM. 

So now I'm safe forever more, 
I'm sure I've reac'd the peaceful shore, 
Here's endless draughts of bliss for me* « 
The measure is eternity. 

Abram, Isaac and Jacob too, 
Here's endless draughts of bliss for you ; 
Yes precious souls, you were brought hence* 
9 Twas sure with infinite expense. 

Should I this question still propound, 
What are your limits, or your bounds ? 
O ever, ever, free from wrong 1 
And endless, endless, is the song. 

Your city is laid out four square, 
Though it contains such myriads there* 
Twelve gates are open to receive, 
AH prodigals that sin do leave, 



27§> 

The streets thereof are all pure gold*, 
From sacred writ this truth is told ; 
And as it were transparent glass, 
What works of wonder brought to pass. 

The walls are laid with precious stone j 
Jasper and chrystal not alone ; 
Nor topaz with its beauteous hue ; 
Nov all the gold of rich Peru. 

A flood of endless joy there rolls, 
And fruits 10 cheer immortal souls $ 
A glorious sky of azure bright, 
And fields and oceans of delight. 

Lo yonder now I turn my eye, 
Me thinks the Deity I spy, 
Effulgent God thy rays display'd ; 
Strike all the heavenly hosts with dread. 

Here essence in profusion lias ; 
And all creation of course dies: 
Eternal streams of ravishment, 
From thee the Fountain are forth sent, 

O Father what eternal love, 
Shines in thy character above ! 
The Son redeeming fallen men ; 
Exceeds the limits of my pen. 

Thou Hcjy Ghost whose purging fires, 
Enkindles glorious desires, 
And brings to heaven the blissful sons. 
Of Adam, otherwise undone, 

O glory, glory, glory be, 
"To him who fills immensity, 
And by one dreadful attribute ; 
Strikes all creation dead or mute. 



280 

Glory of glory here cloth dwell, 
Such *as no angel's tongue can tell ; 
When you attempt the lofty tower, 
To speak the Godhead and his power. 

O what a pleasing solemn sound ! 
'Mongst all the heavenly squadrons round I 
But none so happy as those blest : 
The sons of Adam now at rest. 

Go Gabriel, strike your loftiest string, 
Creating power and love you'll sing, 
But never can you taste above, 
The sweets of Christ's redeeming love 

Third heaven's joys we wish for thee, 
When shall our eyes your regions see ? 
Commander of that glorious place. 
Make us fall victims to thy grace. 

Then by and b; we'll take our flighty 
To fields and regions of delight; 
Around the golden throne, tiien we 
Will spend our blest eternity. 

Come, let us all the scene renew, 
And take one retrospective view ; 
View Him who fills the middle throne ; 
His bitter death and groans are gone. 

Yes, gone forever, see him rise, 
And take his throne in cloudless skies ; 
Whole hosts cf cherubs wait his will, 
And bow and fly o'er Zion's hill. 

No more old Cnlvary stain'd with blood* 
To flow from an Almighty God; 
No Roman bands, no spiteful Jews, 
Who can this mighty Prince refuse? 



281 

But cloth'd in thunder, soon he'll come, 
And call his wand'ring pilgrims home ; 
Then fire the world, O strange to tell ! 
And send the wicked down to hell. 

Who dares offend this mighty Lord ? 
Who dares to trifle with his blood ? 
Old rebel angels soon he slew, 
And succoured all the faithful true. 

Let us descend to our poor race ; 
The first of men must have a place ; 
O Adam, could you once have thought 
That your vile sin all this had brought t 

Should open wide the gates of heaven, 
And you your offspring now made even, 
To the great shining ones above, 
Who always kept their state of love. 

O matchless grace ! amazing deed I 
The tongue of seraphs sure we need, 
One thousandth part of this to tell, 
And how we ajl escap'd from hell. 

Now look back on your guilty race ; 
See how they take their heavenly place, 
And from polluted worms, they vie 
With angels, to eternity. 

O look around the beav'nly plains, 
Then count and tell the heav'nly gains \ 
And o'er the sacred kingdom fly, 
And then new scenes of pleasure try. 

O Abel, late we spoke to you, 

But still your mighty bliss renew-; 

Once murderM slaughtered by your brother. 

You've now become an heavenly lover. 

%$ * 



282 

While seas of bliss roll o'er your head,. 
And all your dying anguish filed ; 
Your blood for vengeance once did cry ; 
Now always live, and never die. 

Now spend your blest eternity, 
In gazing on the sacred Three ; 
'With holy cherubs spend your time. 
With seraphs too your soul combine. 

But, wash'd in the Redeemer's blood, 
You are made white in this pure flood ; 
Tour blood and sins and filth are gone. 
And heavenly bread you live upon. 

No offerings are required from you, 
But holiness all pure and true ; 
No bleeding lamb to cause you smart, 
X o Satan with his fiery dart. 

"No Cain, to kill your mortal frame, 
Because you offered up a lamb ; 
And his vile hands to stain with bloocU 
And thus offend a righteous God. 

But shine forever, sit on high, 
*jo shine and deck the golden sky ; 
Sparkle amidst the heavenly stars, 
Away from blood and neise and wars, 

Enoch, that woud'rous saint of old, 

That holy man, of prophets told, 

Waik'd close with God — God took him home. 

When he his golden race had run. 

A heavenly chariot then was sent, 
Down to the earth its course was bent ; 
Enoch the object : see him rise 
On wheels of fire above t-he skies* 



283 

Body and soul, now see him move 
In yonder heavenly realms of love ; 
A complete man in beauty drest I 
He's gone to his eternal rest. 

Elijah too went up to glory, 
Elisha told the dreadful story ; 
For he a witness was, you know. 
And saw his shining body go. 

My father! father! then he cries v 
But still Elijah swiftly flies ; 
Flies, soars aloft to endless day ; 
The holy chariot iriakes no stay. 

He never stops to hear his calls* 

But yet his holy mantle falls ; 

A double spirit of Elijah 

Now rests upon the young- Elisha/ 

He's sore disturbed, and tears his clothe s 5 
And seems quite far from calm repose ; 
He seems quite full of sore disasters, 
And back he goes to Jordan's waters. 

With the holy mantle in his hand, 
He smites the waters, quhs the* land ; 
The waters, in their frighted race, 
Open and give the saint a place. 

Then o'er the wond'rous prophet goes 5 
But still he finds a scene of woes ; 
For more than forty children, torn 
By two she bears : O sight forlorn ! 

But now, great prophet, you're above, 
You're wing'd with zeal and nVd with love 
You doubtless see Elijah's face, 
Who holds vou now in his embrace* 



284 

Moses, the man of God there seen* 
While glory fills his awful mien ; 
The shine still left upon his face. 
For now he dwells in heavenly place. 

Though when the guardian of Christ's flock^ 
God hid him in the clefted rock : 
His dazzling glory might not see. 
Till the bright part had past away. 

No hand, no veil, nor clefted rock 5 
No wicked Israelites to mock, 
No Aaron now your soul to try, 
No Pisgah's top to mount and die. 

Jjieign then forever, mighty Prince, 
For you're made so at vast expense ; 
God will stretch out his holy arm, 
To save you from the smallest harm, 

O Abraham, thi's is not Chaldea, 
In that dark land that's far away 
From gospel light, and gospel love ; 
But 'tis great Zion all above. 

Thou faithful friend of God and man, 
5 Twas Jesus laid the holy plan, 
When first he call'd you out from death., 
Fill'd you with heavenly life and breath. 

You follow'd God, you knew not wherej 
But still remained his heavenly care ; 
To Mesopotamia soon jou go, 
The land of Charan you must know. 

Your course to Canaan soon you bent, 
With courage strong, and pure intent, 
You follow'd God where'er he led, 
And serve him glorious now you're dead. 



285 

Now see the holy circumcis'd, 
In heavenly light, who earth despis'd ; 
A numerous offspring from you came, 
That always will adore the Lamb. 

The bloody rites are all withdrawn, 
For faith and love we feed upon ; 
No circumcission now avails, 
But what sweet love and joy exhales. 

Reign then forever with your God ; 
Sing how he wash'd you in his blood, 
And hope and pray, your ancient race, 
In the same heaven, may have a place. 

While we the Gentile church will sing, 
And praise and worship the same King, 
And pray and hope for the same day 
That from our earth lies far away. 

O holy Isaac, in thy seed 
Has the whole earth been blest indeed ; 
The Saviour surely sprung from thee, 
The great God-Man : what worms are we ! 

When thy dear father took the knife, 
The wood, the lire, to end thy life, 
And stretch'd his arm to strike thy heart. 
And soul and body quickly part : • 

Qid'st thou then think the ram, that's caught 
Fast by his horns, all this would brought ? 
A type of Christ, for you he died, 
For man, the Saviour satisfied. 

Great Jacob we are passing by. 

Let us a word to him apply; 

Thou great, thou mighty prince, so good/ 

How thou didst wrestle with thv God ! 



286 

Yes wrestle long, at length prevail; 
Thy constancy did never fail; 
Obtain the blessing then full well, 
God changed thy name to Israel. 

A ladder of light did see likewise, 
Which reach'd from earth beyond the skies ; 
The descending and ascending angels 
Hush'd thee away from all our wrangles. 

They drew thee to the scenes above, 
God overwhelmed thee with his love; 
So thou couldst say, with a sweet grace, 
How dreadful holy is this place. 

Thy heavenly joys so great that even — 
Most surely this the gate of heaven ; 
The door of entrance into rest, 
Where thou art now forever blest. 

No more view Joseph, all forlorn, 
No more to Egypt go for corn ; 
In Canaan's land now take your fill. 
Tot you've arrivM on Zion s hill. 

Then hymn the Saviourfs mighty praise, 
Then hymn Him in your constant lays, 
And fall before the Lord's anointed. 
You'll never Hay I'm disappointed. 

But O what glorious scenes await, 
To bless and cheer your heavenly state. 
Beyond whatever you could thought, 
Since up to heaven you are brought. 

Great Noah witness'd once the flood $ 
That came down from an angry God ; 
But now in floods of light he lives, 
And thus the Holy Ghost receives, 



287 

Sfamuel the prophet, great in might. 
Was once the child of God's delight; 
Told wicked Eli of his sins, 
But now above with Christ he reigns, 

Great Job, afflicted by his boils, 
Was mock'd, insulted by exiles ; 
But soon his body, bright as noon, 
Shall shine in youth's immortal bloom, 

Ezekiel, with his constant breath, 
( Most always prophesied of death ; 
But now he's gone to lire forever, 
Where no foul hand can reach him, never. 

^Now we will speak of great Isaiah ; 
Poetic, gospel, heavenly fire 
Inspir'd his soul, and led him on ; 
Lo, yonder see God's favour'd son. 

The great lamenting prophet too, 
Whose holy life excites our view, 
Is gone to live forevermore, 
Where sins and troubles cease to roar, 

Great Daniel too, that man of prayer, 
With virtues great, and talents rare, 
He quench'd the howling, roaring lion- 
For he was bound unto Mount Zion. 

The minor prophets we address, 
These holy men our Ood will bless, 
Give them their blissful crowns complete! 
Where saints and angels love to meet. 

New Testament saints all join your voice, 
And with the Old aloud rejoice ; 
And shout the praise of Zion's King, 
While every one your r tribute bring, 



288 

Great John the Baptist, Luke and John. 
Mark, Matthew, Peter, live upon 
The flesh and blood of your dear Lord, 
You read his grace and trust his word; 

Great Paul, Apollos, Silas too, 
You each your heavenly bliss renew. 
While John, the best beloved true, 
Will shout the sacred Jesus too. 

And thus I end my heavenly story ; 
Now who would not go home to glory? 
Away from trouble, blood and noise, 
And shine among the holy stars, 



POEM IV. 

Written early in the spring of 1816, on the 
then present reformation ; having a ret- 
rospective view of the reformation in 
these parts, in 1790, &c. 

IT is now that King Jesus is descending from heaven. 
And writing his name on the poor sinner's heart; 

The proud haughty rebel with the dust is brought 
even, 
And awful stern justice is bid to depart. 

From Sinai's high mount, rolls the thunders of law. 
That awakens the conscience, in the poor sinner's 
soul ; 
The turbulent passions begin for to war ! 

While horror and darkness benightens the whole. 



£89 

The heavens black lowering* strikes deep with amaze! 

The poor wretched fugitive, stung in the bieasi, 
Then upwards to heaven most anxiously gaze ; 

But conscience, loud conscience, will give them 
no rest. 

The flames of Mount Sinai, still flashing^ on high, 
And nothing but death stands full in his view : 

For mercy aloud he will utter his cry, 
For grace he will cry, to form him anew. 

But mercy forbears, and lets him run on, 
To see if salvation himself can procure ; 

But nothing but vengeance is showered upon 
His poor naked soul, while of hell he is sure. 

Distracted and- tossing, he roams through the earth, 
In quest of some small poor pittance of ease ; 

But nothing but darkness and horror and death, 
While each fleeting moment his guilt must in- 
crease. 

Forlorn and dejected, he casts his sad eye, 
Bespeaking a horror he ne'er felt before ; 

Alas i O, alas ! I must certainly die : 

And thus in deep anguish is heard for to roar, 

And so all-desponding he runs to his friends, 
Saying, Pity, O pity a poor ruin'd soul, 

My anguish ! my anguish me dismally rends ! 
And nothing but Jesus can e'er make me whole, 

O f>ray for me, cry unto Zion's great King, 
And tell him my heart is as hard as a rock ! 

O tell him some drops of sweet mercy to bring ; 
For my stupid soul is as dull as a block. 

I'm benumb'd as a corpse, I am lost, I am gone ! 
No particle of life appears in my soul ; 
26 



290 

I have straggled, I have striv'd while with sin I am 
worn, 
And nothing but vengeance my soul finds to roll. 

My friends, O my friends, what shall I now do ! 

I know I belong to Satan's black band ; 
How can I, how can I, join his hellish crew ? 

Amazed, and trembling, with horror I stand. 

Come all ye blest saints, rend heaven's high arch ! 

And pour out your souls before his great throne. 
That he by his spirit me faithfully search, 

And show me his mercy, or else I'm undone. 

-And so the poor sinner begins all anew, 

He finds that the saints to heaven lift their cry ; 

He hopes that it is most gloriously tr\ae 

That his sin-wrecked soul is not doora'd to die. 

With fortitude strong, he redoubles his prayer, 
He hopes with old Satan and sin for to vie ; 

He feels in his soul some principles rare, 

And really concludes he was not born to die. 

New vigour awakens and refreshes his soul, 
Now' he is determin'd to lie at the cross ; 

No longer in the filth of pollution to roll, 

And all his great gains to count them but dross. 

He now sees in fact, that die soon he must, 

Notwithstanding his righteousness, great as it was; 

He is just as certain and sure to be curst 

As the old rebel angels, who had broken God's 
laws. 

Then sinking in death, he looks up to Christ ; 
Christ's eye, all compassion, looks mild on his 
soul j 



291 

Consider, O sinner, the infinite price i 

Of which you so often and loud have been told. 

Now see where you'd been, was it not for my arm, 

To rescue from Satan's old dark fiery cell, 
And take you away from eternal harm, 

So that you never should feel that dread burning 
hell. 

• 
Christ makes himself known to the poor sinner's 
heart, 
And throws his arms round, and encloses his 
spirit ; 
And black warthful vengeance is bid to depart; 
And eternal life he is bid to inherit. 

O Jesus ! O Jesus I O Jesus ! he cries, 

O bless me ! O bless me 1 and turn me to God ; 

While Jesus his mercy and grace now applies, 
And washes his soul in his own precious blood. 

A feast of fat things, of wine on the lees, 

Is spread to refresh the poor wretched soul ; 

It is such as angels and seraphs must please ; 
And music, great music, in heaven must roll ! 

Strike all golden harps, expressive of joy, 
And saints can't be idle on this solemn day ; 

All heaven resounding, without an alloy, 

And christians above their anthems must pay. 

The fatted calf's kill'd, the prodigal's home, 

Come down ye bright angels, and gladden the feast* 

Attendant pure seraphs, come brighten the room, 
Come in ye dull christians, and join all the rest. 

Thus have I sketch'd out, in historic strain, 
The work of the spirit, in convincing the soul ; 



292 

His darkness, his light, his fear and his pain ; 

I've ainVd hard at truth, in expressing the whole, 

But Will Limsburgh now must soon have a place 
In the bright records of sweet heavenly theme ; 

I doivt know that it would be any misplace, 

To call them the first, on the bright wondrous 
name. 

Perhaps never town was e'er favoured more 
With the spirit of grace, direct from the sky ; 

Sweet heavenly clouds pour shower after shower. 
And the poor trembling souls to shelter now fly» 

It forms then at once a blessed retreat 
*For the Godly and pious, who think much od 
heaven ; 
It is here they may find a company meet, 
And favours and charities abundantly given. 

But now it is time to hasten onward and tell 

How the work of the spirit is reclaiming our town* 

How many a poor soul is rescued from heil. 
And Satan, old Satan, has late fallen down* 

It is now that the gospel, with sweet melting sound* 
Arrests the attention of all, old and young ; 

While mercy, and patience, and meekness abound, 
And fervour and zeal do fill all the song. 

Now see the blest change that Jesus can make 
On dark harden'd rebels, who lay all in sin ; 

Whose greatest alliance was the burning lake ; 
Was it not for him, where must they have been, 

It is thus earth is heaven, and heaven too is earth, 
When the spirit descends, comes down like a 
dove : 



293 

tt is thus we receive our discharges from death. 
And lay our high claims to the regions above. 

But the herald who brought us the sweet gladdening 
news, 
From Southampton he came, in the name of tUs 
L,ord : 
It was then that we trust, that Christ did *is arouse $ 
What terror and joy accompanied the word. 

A Mrs. Susan Kingsley was the first, we believe, 
Who experienced conviction and conversion so 
clear; 

Who the grace of Immamiel did freely receive, 
And learn'd Him to worship, to love, and to fear, 

A gen'ral solemnity took place 4n the town, 

And sinners fast crowded to the temple of God ; 

And heavenly influence sweet, rained down, 
And nothing but Jesus, and Mis dying blood. 

O come and attend, ye that pass on this way, 
And see divine mercy so richly now flowing s._ 

O come now and join us, without more delay ; 
For we are all utuo great eternity going. 

Trim well your lamps, and fill them with pil, 

For tb'e Bridegroom is coming, and we never know 
when ; 

Prepare then to meet him, or a terrible foil 
Will da3h you to death, ye children of men I 

Pray come to our meetings, and look around, do; 

How anxious men, women, and children appear 5 
Methinks a most glorious sight they will shew, 

To those who the Infinite Eternal do fear. 

Is there a more blessed sight, on this side of heaven ? 
Than sinners preparing and refining in love ? 

26 *. 



294 

Whose dates, and whose lives, and whose parallels 
even, 
With the holy bright choirs, who live all above. 

We pray, mighty Jesus, thou wouidst work by thy 
power, 

Our trembling and quaking, don't let it depart ; 
(itowimand, mighty Saviour, command a great shower; 

Wash^ and recognize, and cleanse every heart. 

And now, with much prudence, would rehearse the 
great deed, 
Of the eighteenth century, the year ninety, just ; 
When Immanuel our Williamsburgh from bondage 
had freed ; 
And caused us mostly in him for to trust. 

What solemn great scenes presented full now ; 

What sadness depicted on each gloomy face i 
Each countenance chang'd, you could not tell how 5 

And dire weighty vengeance seem'd coming apace, 

As solemn as midnight, as still as the morn, 
They anxious look round for some helping aid; 

Humility and meekness their temples adorn, 

And the old plague of sin in a good measure stay'ch 

Perhaps as resplendent as any thing seen, 

The great work of God in Williamsburgh stood ; 

And ail was kind, placid, and humble in mein, 
And the rich grace of God came down like a flood* 

Like lightning it pierced so quick to the heart, 
And brought on confessions and reformings quite 
soon, 

And all appe?cr'd anxious to take a low part, 
From evening to midnight, from morning to noon 



295 

Perhaps graco did never more effectually distil, 
Since the great grand apostolical day ; 

The whole vacant town, God's presence did fill, 
While Satan and sin were bearing away. 

There was scarcely a man but who shar'd in the prize, 
Whose eyes were not open to see his sad state. 

Who did not, with vehemence, utter loud cries, 
All anxious, all trembling, at impending fate. 

All solemn, all silent, and still as c&ld death ! 

Except the loud cries that for mercy were heard; 
■'Twas a sin now to breathe, without praying breath ; 

Not a man to be found but Jehovah rever'd. 

Was not this a sweet view, to see mortals thus, 
A groaning, bemoaning, and grieving for sin ? 

So swiftly, and freely, exempt from the curse : 
? Tis all great Jehovah ! 'tis Him ! yes 'tis Him 1 

For wc all must have perisli'd, then just as we were. 
And lain under wrath till the great burning day; 

Had it not been for kind Jcsus's care 

We must have been clouded with endless dismay. 

We must have lain down in endless despair, 
In burning bright flames of unquenchable fire. 

With Sodom and Gomorrah, our torments more rare 5 
And more awful sense of God's dreadful ire. 

Religion has shone on this happy town, 

Almost the whole time that men here have liv 3 d, 
And Christ's heavenly graces have much showered 
down, 
And the Redeemer's benevolent system much 
thriv'd. 

The fruits of religion are sweet and all cheering, 
And form societies of the very best kind 5 



296 

No malice, no vengeance, no hating, no fearing, 
No anguish, no torture, no stings left behind. 

Our reverend good pastors must now both be nam 5 d ? 

Who under Jehovah conducted the charge ; 
We might forget them, but sure must be blamed, 

Who so well their holy functions discharge. 

They guard against error, and guide us strait through, 
They look down fanatics, and all fiery zeal ; 

It'is their great aim the man to renew, 

And bring the soul to possess an irmmortal weal. 

And now for a line to encourage the soul, 

All dark and all doubting, in this gloomy day : 

The wheels of the gospel are heard for to roll. 
And Asia, dark Asia, is made to obey. 

Go forth, ye bright heralds, ye heralds go forth, 
The great chariot wheels help ye for to roll 

Go show the poor natives the infinite worth, 
The infinite worth of their poor finite soul. 

Go gladden their hearts, their false worship bring- 
down, 

And show them their idols must crumble in dust 9 
For the Lord God Jehovah is of mighty renown, 

While they and their idols are dreadfully curst* 

Go show them that Satan has had a great hand, 
In dark'ning their souls, in black'ning their guilt ;■. 

That blood has dreadfully cried through their land^ 
The blood that they have so wickedly spilt. 

Their sacrifice to devils, their worshiping hell, 
And murdering women and children so many j 

Will bring them to death, sure as old Satan fell, 
Without deep repentance, you can't except any\ 



297 

Lay prostrate their idols, their temples put dpwu, 
And tear Juggernaut from his hard crested shell 5 

And cause them to hear the sw«et melting sound ; 
O help the poor natives, to 'scape quick from hell. 

Spread the sweet heavenly feast, invite them all in 5 
To eat the Lamb's flesh, and drink his rich blood ; 

O warn them, O warn them, to flee now from sin i 
At variance with Satan, in friendship with God, 

O charge them that Jesus has died to procure 
Bright mansions of rest, for all who love him ; 

The covenant of grace is eternally sure, 

To the chosen and faithful, and all who hate sin. 

O charge them to come and accept the sweet offep 
Of mercy and grace now brought to their door, 

For certainly the great the infinite proffer, 

Must shortly soon cease, and then be no mere. 

Go spread downy science all over their streets, 
Go tell them to read in their own native tongue \ 

Go show them the book of the gospel complete, 
Go preach, and fast teach, while these natives 
among. 

jBo open your schools, and teach well their youth, 
Teach them the merits of Christ's precious blood j 

And give them a sacred bias to truth ; 

And teach well in all things, but surely of God. 

And if the poor natives to you soon should cry, 
O help us, O help us, for we now see our sin ; 

Do you* O pastors, more earnestly ply, 

And this glorious work may we all engage in. 

And send them more helps, with credentials from 
• Christ, 

And bearing their commissions shall sail far away $ 



298 

The souls of these Indians are of infinite price, 
Then rouse up attendants, and make no delay ! 

Go educate schools, and open rich mines, 
Erect contributions to help on the cause ; 

Go foster and cherish the holy designs, 

Of the great christian theme, and spreading its 
laws. 

For a cup of cold water that's given the saint, 
Shan't lose its reward in the day of account ; 

In that solemn hour of the dread compiahu, 
When trifles to infinite importance umcunt. 

Adjudged to hail, or rais'd up to heaven, 
For no other reason but acting our part ; 

In one single instance of chanty given. 

And performing the same with a single heart. 

Then what shall bright millions who spread o'er the 
plainsj 
Of heaven's bright azure, most ravishing tell ; 
How we by our little contemptible gains, 

Have brought them the news which sav'd them 
from helh 

Who knows but the millennium will come on in this 
way, 

By opening a road for the Jews to come in, 
The land of Judea to Christ has said nay, 

And eighteen centuries been wallowing in sin. 

The Jews will come in, with the Gentiles in full, 
And false Christs and Messiahs will vanish like 
smoke ; 

When Jesus shall heal this old nation from sin, 
And cause them most tamely to bear well his yoke. 



299 

1d then what a harvest of souls will arise, 

All dark'ned in science and clouded with light ; 

While a bright beam of glory, direct from the skies* 
Shall full overshadow, and sweeten the night. 

What millions, of millions, of millions, will sing, 
All heaven and earth shall melodiously ring, 

And the bride, the Lamb's wife will come down 
from the skies, 
For sin the vile monster now bleeds and dies. 

Old Satan is chain'd, for the angel appears, 

And confines him fast down to his dark burning 
cell ; 

Awake then ye christians, you've nothing to fear, 
For the black tyrant monster is fast'ned in hell. 

The sweet zephyrs of peace now gently shall flow 3 
And religion become as common as sand-; 

No man tell his brother, go know the Lord go ; 
For all shall know this, that inhabit the land. 

The new heavens and new earth, at this time will 
shew wonders. 
And strangely diffuse the all sacred sweet, 
We are as sure of this as though spoken in thun- 
ders, 
All nations, all climates, all languages meet. 

Zion's high watchmen shall see eye to eye, 

And preach with a boldness and eloquence great ; 

Nor Paul or Apollos shall then be thrown by, 
And no one shall rival these princes of state.. 

O happy, O happy, O happy blest times I 
While Jesus resplendeut is shining above ; 

And sending his spirit to conquer our sins, 
And waft us away to the bright realms of love^ 



300' 

How long this great glorious scene may now last* 
Is matter of prophecy and conjecture so hard ; 

How soon hell may open when e'er it is past, 
Is something that demands substantial regard. 

These glorious scenes we'll revisit once more. 

And tell you about a long thousand years ; 
But whether by this we have reached the shore, 
Not from reason, conjecture, or science appears. 

But Oh ! the dark scenes that lie faraway, 

The millennium declining, and clouding like night; 

The terrors, the terrors, of that dreadful day, 
Shall put the great Gog and Magog to flight. 

Go up then, encompass the camp of the saints, 
Till the red flaming fire shall come down on your 
head, 
Your hearts and your bodies and souls shall now 
faint, 
And you with an emphasis write yourselves dead. 

Then let us repent and turn unto God, 

And ward off the evils of the great burning day ; 

O let us all wash in the dearest Lamb's blood ! 
Then on golden harps with angels we'll play. 



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